Unpredictable?
by IchirakuGleekFreek1214
Summary: Naruto didn't bring Sasuke back. He needs to get his mind off of things. A new assasin comes in the picture. Is this assasin what he needs to get his mind off of things? Rated M for later chapters. Character bashing. OOCs. Pervy-ness. Lemons. Enjoy!
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

{Naruto's P.O.V}

Our little 'vacation' was almost over. Since Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei and I didn't bring Sasuke back to Konoha (again), Tsunade-baachan decided to give a break for a few days. (Six days to be exact.) Sadly, it was the fifth day and I didn't spend my time off doing a lot of relaxing. Actually, I barely relaxed at all. I spent as much time as I could doing anything I possibly could trying to get my mind off of 'things.' Luckily for me, Shikamaru, Kiba, Bushy Brows and the others came over to my place to cheer me up. They're really good friends.

**The Next Day**

Since today was my last day to relax before new missions came up, I decided to go to my favorite place in the world, Ichiraku's. I'm always when I'm eating the world's best ramen. I went in there to find Iruka-sensei. I sit down on the stool next and tap him on his shoulder.

"Hmm? Oh, hey Naruto," he says smiling.

"Iruka-sensei, what's up?"

"Not much," he starts. "How have you been?"

"...I've been ok..." I try saying that through a smile. The concerned look on Iruka-sensei's face shows that he's clearly not buying it.

"Look, Naruto, I know things haven't been going so good for you lately..." he starts before he gets interrupted.

"Oi, Naruto-kun," Bushy Brow says panting.

"Whoa, Bushy Brow, what is it?"

"Naruto-kun, Tsunade-sama wanted to see you in her office immediately."

'Great,' I thought. 'I couldn't even eat yet.' I started to walk away right when Iruka-sensei called me. I turn around.

"Yeah, Iruka-sensei?"

"Keep your head up, Naruto," he says with a smile. "I believe in you." That last statement really made my day. I don't know what I'd do without Iruka-sensei. I wave goodbye to him and run towards Hokage tower.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In Tsunade's office~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

I walk in with a soft smile, only to find Tsunade-baachan and Sakura-chan glaring at me, hard. Uh-oh...

"Uh, hey g-" I couldn't finish my sentence before Sakura-chan came up to me and punched me in the back of my head. "What was that f-" I couldn't get that sentence all way the out before Tsunade-baachan started yelling at me.

"Why are you late?" I didn't even realize I was late, to be honest. "And you come in here smiling as if nothing's wrong?"

"Well...you see...I...uh.." I start, trying to think of a good excuse for my inexplicable latenes..

"You know what..." Tsunade says. "Don't even tell me. I'll just let it go for now." I let out a sigh of relief. I walk over to Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei were standing.

"Anyway," Tsunade-baachan starts. "I have a new mission." Damn, that's just what I wanted. She starts pulling out some papers.  
"There's an assasin from the Hidden Mist Village. She's said to have-" I cut her off.

"Whoa...you're telling me that this assasin is a girl?" Sakura-chan starts choking me. "Would you shut up?"

"Anyway," Tsunade continues. "This assasin's known for her nickname as 'The Slayer.' Anyone and everyone she ever took on is dead. She's one of the toughest opponents many shinobi have taken on. To add on to that, there have been rumors of her power."

Kakashi-sensei speaks up now. "Rumors?"

"Well, there have been many things said about her jutsu. Some people say that she use jutsu to read minds, use telekinesis, even **silence** people." I could tell the silencing part was directed to me. She continued. "Her actual skills are still unknown. What's also unknown is what she's actually doing now and what she plans on doing in the future."

"What do you mean, Tsunade-same," Sakura-chan asked.

"Well," she replies. "There are also rumors that she's 'retired.' Some say that she's been wandering around from country to country for no particular reason...no real agenda. She's just 'looking for a place to stay' as the story goes. Some say she also has no intention on being 'The Slayer' anymore. For the safety of Konoha and all the other villages, we need to know what she's up to. That's where you guys come in. I need you guys to go and investigate what exactly she's up to." We all nod.

She hands us a picture of this 'assasin.' Amazingly, just by her picture, I would have never thought she would be an assasin. Just by looking at this picture, she looks like a such a good girl-long, curly raven hair, tan skin, bright violet eyes, and a big, bright, white smile. I gotta admit, she's kinda cute-for an assasin, that is.

"Don't be fooled by her picture," Tsunade-baachan continues. "She's a lot more crafty and sneaky than she appears. For this girl, you have to be even more careful than usual." We nod again. "Well then, with that said, you guys leave first thing tomorrow morning. Make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight. You're definitely going to need it." We nod again. "Alright, that's all." We all turn around to leave. Baa-chan calls me.

"Hmm," I ask, turning around.

"Naruto, take your mind off of Sasuke for a little while, ok? For now, just stay focused on this mission."

"Ok, baa-chan," I say, earning a glare from her. I start smiling nervously, then I turn around and run away.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At Naruto's place~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

I start packing as soon as I get home. 'Assasin, huh?' I think. 'She didn't even look that bad.' I couldn't help but wish this did take my mind off of Sasuke for a while. I pick up the Team 7 picture while I'm packing. 'I will bring you back Sasuke,' I proclaim inwardly. When I get done packing, I take a shower and decide to go to bed early. 'If she's as bad as Tsunade-baachan says she is, then I might as well get as much sleep as I can.' With that, I just close my eyes and mind and let sleep take over me.

**Author's Notes: This is my first fanfic. I have many big plans with this fanfic. I really hope you all like it. Sorry for the OOC-ness. I tried as best as I could. I also apologize for the crappy beginning. I again tried as best as I could. Please review. No flaming or anything as such. I'd dearly appreciate. Special note: this assasin is very important towards the story plot just to let you know. Ok...that's it. 'Til next time...bye!**


	2. Can We Really Trust Her?

_**Chapter 1- Can we really trust her?**_

**{Naruto's P.O.V.}**

Sakura, Kakashi-sensei and I stood at the gates of the village, prepared to leave for this assasin mission. Tsunade-baachan stood by with a slight smile on her face while we waved her off. We then took off. I started to think that we might have a little bit of a hard time finding this assasin. I just remembered what Tsunade-baachan had told us right before we left.

**(cue flashback)**

"You might some difficulty finding her [1]," Tsunade told us. "Some have said that she can use an invisibility jutsu."

"That's possible?" Sakura said.

"I don't know. But then again, she's more cunning than she appears. Also, no one really knows exactly where she is either. Last time anyone heard of her, she was somewhere outside the Fire country. No one is really certain if she is or not. If she is, get her and take her down."

For the rest of the night, those words somehow kept playing in my mind.

**(end flashback)**

I get pulled out of my track of thought when Sakura-chan yelled out to me.

"Hey Naruto, what's wrong with you?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing."

"Are you sure?" She starts giving me a look of concern.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan, don't worry about me," I say with a soft smile.

"Well ok." She let it go from there.

We kept going from there. Suddenly, Kakashi-sensei stopped.

"What is it, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura asked.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~meanwhile, up in the trees~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**{Quick switch to normal P.O.V.}**

A certain kunoichi sat up on a tree branch looking down on the Leaf Village team.

"Hmm...looks like the found me out already. They're quite skilled. Looks like this might be quite interesting. Guess I should go say hi."

Said kunoichi jumps from the tree and in front of the Konoha team.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~back to where the team is~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**{back to Naruto's P.O.V.}**

Kakashi-sensei stays quiet, ignoring both Sakura and me. Then, a woman jumps out of the trees and in front of us. For a second, I was stunned. Not only was she the same girl in the picture Tsunade showed us, but she was even prettier in person. She looked like she was around my age. Her curls perfectly framed her face, and her outfit perfectly fit her curves. But there's one thing I couldn't help but notice about her eyes, though. In the picture, she definitely had violet eyes. Maybe it was just me, but I could've sworn that her eyes were a brownish-yellowish-honey color [2].

"Hey, blondie," the girl says. "Could you stop staring at me? It's making me feel uncomfortable."

I snap out of my thoughts and start glaring at her. She speaks again. "Sheesh...all I do is ask you stop staring at me and you instantly get mad? What's up with that?" I glare at her even more. She sighs. "Never mind. Well, anyway, I can tell you all are Leaf shinobi. And from what you guys are thinking, I can tell that you guys wanted some business with me." Our jaws drop a little. Damn, she really can read minds. "Well, I can tell you're all shocked that the rumor about me reading minds is true [3], but that's not important right now. What is this business that you wanted with me?"

We all try to relax a little bit. Apparently, Kakashi-sensei wants to handle this. "First, we all know that you're the assasin known as 'The Slayer,' am I right?"

"Well," she starts. "You are. What's your point?"

"We only want to know a few things about you."

"Okay...however..." She stops and makes sure to look at each of us in the eyes. "Don't you find it rude to ask about someone before you at least introduce yourselves? I mean, you don't have to know since I already know your names, but that doesn't me-" I cut her off.

"Wait a minute...how do already know our names?"

"You dumb-ass, weren't you listening? I can read minds!"

Sakura and Kakashi-sensei give me a quick glare and sighed.

"Anyway," she starts again. "What all do you want to know?"

Kakashi-sensei starts this up again. "First of all, what is your name?"  
With a slight smirk on her face, she replies, "I'm glad you asked, Hatake Kakashi. My name is Ichiru Kaede [4]. Nice to meet you. You too, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto."

I already don't like her or her attitude. "Wow..." Kaede says. "Already judging me and you only know my name?" I growl a little. "Calm down. I'm just joking. Anyway..." She's now turning her attention back to Kakashi. "What else is there for me to answer?"

Before he could say anything, I interrupt. "Hey, if you can read minds then why don't you just read our minds and get your answer?"

"Well, that's a very simple-minded question. One thing you should know about me is that that's not the way I handle business. I only ask because it's more polite. Plus, I can see if you guys are lying to me or not." We stayed quiet for a little while. "Well then, what else did you want to know?

"What are your intentions," Sakura-chan asked. "What exactly are you trying to do?"

"...my intentions are only to find a place to stay. I'm only trying to find a place to stay where I can get some stability."

"Alright, cut the crap," I yell at her. "We know you're up to something. Now what is it?"

"...hm. Rather impatient, aren't we? Oh well. But to answer your question, it's just what I told you. I'm getting sick and tired of wandering around. I've been doing that for the past year or so now and I just want to stay somewhere safe."

"How do we know for sure that you mean what you're saying," Sakura asked her.

"Haruno-san, I may do a lot of things. Lying certainly not one of them. That's how you know. And yes, Uzumaki-kun," she says diverting her attention to me. "I know it may sound like crap, but it's the truth." Damn, she's good.

"Well," Kakashi-sensei cuts back in. "Why exactly have you been wandering around?"

"Are you deaf, too? I'm looking for a place to stay. It's hard to do so if you're only known as an assasin. Anyways, Hatake-san, what else did you want know?"

"Your jutsu. What all can you do?"

"I'm glad you asked about that, too. As you know, I can read minds. I also do everything that was rumored about me, and more." Wow. I never expected the rumors to be true.

"What's more?"

"Look, more is too many to talk about at the moment. So just stick to the rumors, okay?"

"Hey, you don't hav-" That's all I managed to get out before I somehow lost my voice. Sakura and Kakashi looked back at me kind of stunned. They look back at her.

"What did you do to Naruto's voice," Sakura yelled.

"Nothing really," Kaede replies. "I just used my silencing jutsu that I know you've heard of. And don't worry, you can thank me later [5]." Then came a quick pause. Kaede starts back up again. "Anything else?"  
"Yes," Kakashi-sensei says. "Is it true that you're done with being the Slayer?"

"Absolutely," she says. "I got sick of being the Slayer. I never liked doing that stuff. I just decided to quit one day. That's when I started wandering around looking for a place to stay."

"Again," Sakura-chan interjects. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"Look, Haruno-san. If it's a fight you're looking for, then you're looking in the wrong place. I'm sick of doing it. If you really don't believe me, then why don't you just chain me up and beat the truth out of me," her tone turned bitter when she said that. She looks at the ground, kicking her feet around and sighs. "Look," she says looking back up. "Like I said before, I'm tired of being the Slayer, I'm tired of wandering around, and I just want some stability." Somehow, her eyes shifted to a deep blue color, kinda like mine. "I truly don't want to fight you or anybody right now. And since you're wondering, Uzumaki-kun," she says, now looking me square in the eye. "My eyes tend to change colors along with my emotions." Whoa! "One thing that you didn't know about me is that some people used to call me the 'Human Mood Ring' or 'Moodie' for short." Another pause.

"Interesting," was all that Kakashi-sensei had to say.

"Look, I have a little proposal for you all," Kaede says. "Why don't I show that you can trust me?"

"What did you have in mind," Sakura asked.

"Why don't you take me back with you to your village and let me show you that I can be trusted," Kaede said that with those same violet eyes I've seen before, filled with hope. I just didn't know. I wanted to believe her, but at the same time, I had to be on my guard. She stood there waiting for a response, with her eyes the same color and still filled with hope. We turn around and huddle up [6]. Before I realized it, I had my voice back. "Thank me later, Uzumaki-kun."

Sakura-chan turned to Kakashi-sensei. "What do you think we should do, Kakashi-sensei?"

"You're really not suggesting that we take her with us are you, Sakura?"

"Well, no, but she might be more useful to the village than you think."

I look back at her while they're talking. She looks so sad now. Her eyes turn back to the same shade of blue they'd been earlier. She started to kick her feet around again. I had no idea why, but I found her to be really pretty at that moment. Before I even realize, I get slapped in the back of the head.

"Pay attention, would ya?" Sakura yelled at me while shaking me back to life.

"Well, then," Kakashi starts. "She maybe useful to us, but we still don't know if she can be trusted."

"I think she can," I say.

"What?" I heard Sakura say.

"Are you sure about that, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei asked me.

"Yeah, just trust me on this. I have a strange feeling that I'm right about this."

"Ok, fine," he said.

Sakura interjects again. "Ok, Naruto, but if you're wrong about this..." she started glaring at me while she trailed off.

"OK, OK, I get it, Sakura-chan."

We then turn back to Kaede. I start this. "Ok, Kaede, we'll take you with us." Her eyes turned back to that pretty violet color. Kakashi-sensei decided to add on to it.

He said, "But on one condition..."

Her head slightly cocks to the side. "What is it?"

**Author's Note: What is that condition of Kakashi's? Stick around to find out. Anyway, I plan on updating ASAP. I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. Please review and give me any ideas. I'd appreciate it. Oh, here's the deal with the numbers. They're stuff I just had to say something about outside of the story.**

**[1] You gotta love the irony.**

**[2] For that particular eye color, here's a link to show you what I meant: ****.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=/colored-contact-lenses/edward-cullen-contacts&usg=_2hcKvlnes0qpO8cK58fawUDh0I4=&h=200&w=200&sz=9&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=pYq79sC8ML_vfM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=160&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhoney%2Beye%2Bcolore%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1600%26bih%3D677%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=638&vpy=418&dur=1210&hovh=160&hovw=160&tx=55&ty=143&ei=0ryNTIDFOYG78gbb-ICeCg&oei=0ryNTIDFOYG78gbb-ICeCg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:19,s:0**

**[3] Ahh...sweet, sweet irony.**

**[4] The deal with Kaede's name. Her last name, Ichiru, was inspired by Bleach. I just happened to be watching Bleach one night, a few weeks before I actually started writing this fanfic, and I just took Ichigo & Rukia's names and combined them and got Ichiru. I just felt like using that. Anyway, when it comes to her first name, I got that from reading Negima! Epic win!**

**[5] Thank me later-one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite artists, DRAKE! Friggin love Drake!**

**[6] I know it's rare for them to ever 'huddle up' but please just go along with it.**

**Anyways...'till later...ciao!**


	3. The Condition Revealed

**Author's Notes: I forgot to mention this before, but I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or any of the characters. (Except Kaede. I came up with her so she's mine!) **

**Also, special thanks to anyone who favorited my story. I really appreciate it! Oh, and I want to apologize for any typos or anything like that in the last two chapters. (I'm a little OCD with that so yeah, I'll proof read next time.) On with the story...**

_**Chapter 2- The Condition Revealed**_

**{Naruto's P.O.V.}**

**(really quick flashback)**

_We then turn back to Kaede. I start this. "Ok, Kaede, we'll take you with us." Her eyes turned back to that pretty violet color. Kakashi-sensei decided to add on to it. _

_ He said, "But on one condition..."_

_ Her head slightly cocks to the side. "What is it?"_

**(end really quick flashback)**

"First of all," Kakashi continues. "Just to be safe, we have to chain you up."

"That's fine," Kaede says, nearly emotionless. "It was my suggestion in the first place."

Amazingly, she didn't put up a fight while Kakashi and I were pinning her to a tree and tying her up. She really might be serious about not wanting to fight anymore. "I am, Uzumaki-kun," she says. For a quick second, I had forgotten that she could read minds. "Obviously," she said. I sweatdropped. Man, that was really getting annoying. "I'm sorry, Uzumaki-kun," she says, her voice changing in way I can't quite describe. Her eyes change back to that honey color. "I have a bad habit of doing that, especially to innocent guys," she continues with what I could now tell was a seductive tone. She flips her hair, making sure some of her hair gets in front of her right eye. "Do you forgive me?" Kakashi's visible eye widened. Kaede started to smirk a little.

"What's so funny?" I ask her.

"Nothing, besides the fact that you have a nosebleed and don't even realize it."

"WHA-?" I checked my nose. Damn her, she was right. I plugged up my nose with some random tissues while Kaede burst into laughter. Kakashi and Sakura sweatdropped. Kakashi regained his composure and decided to get back to business.

"Alright," he started. "Enough playing around. You do want us to trust you, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," she replied, after she finally stopped laughing. "I'll stop. Sorry about that Uzumaki-kun." Her eyes shift back to violet. She flips her hair back.

"Since we're being serious now," she starts with a now serious tone. "What was that condition you mentioned earlier, Hatake-san?  
"Well," he starts. "You did mention that you've been 'wandering around' for quite some time, right?"  
"Yes, I did, at least 3 times already. Where are you getting at exactly?"

"Since you've been wandering around, you would have heard some rumors, excluding the ones about yourself, right?"

"Hatake-san, your cryptic speaking is irritating. Could you please just get to the point?"

"Ok, since you're so impatient, here's the condition..." He raises up one finger. "There's a lot of things we need to know about and you're going to tell us what all you know about them, got it?"

"Quite inquisitive, aren't we? Fine...what do you want to know?"  
"Tell us what you know about Akatsuki."

"Interesting that you ask. From what you're thinking, I can't tell you much. I only went by the rumors. So as far as I'm concerned, I only know as much as you do, to be honest. Sorry."

We all sigh. Damn. Sakura spoke up this time.

"Can you tell us anything about Uchiha Sasuke?" When she asked about him, I couldn't help but get a little anxious for her answer.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, too, but I only know as much as you do." Both Sakura and I drop our heads a little. This sucks. "I know that must suck to hear and it's just a big disappointment, but I honestly can't help you with that. I'm really sorry to have disappointed you." I can hear the sincerity in her voice and see it in her eyes. We fell into an awkward and intense pause. So much for getting Sasuke off my mind.

"However," Kaede spoke up finally. "I can help you find him. And I can guarentee that my method will be 10 times faster than what ever method you were using."

Sakura's voice immediately sounded perky. "You can do that, for real?"

Kaede nods with an incredibly cocky smile on her face. "Haha, of course I can."

Kakashi-sensei came back into the conversation. "Wait a minute...exactly how can you do that?"  
"...well..." she starts. "You see..."

"See what," I ask her. Silence, at least on her part. "Well, what is it? Spit it out already!"

"I'll tell you what," she says. "As far as I'm concerned, I already held up my end of the bargain, even though it wasn't of much help to you. So how about I make another proposal with you. I can show right now how I can do that only if you promise me..." she trailed off.

"Promise you what?" I asked her.

"Nothing other than what you originally promised me."

Kakashi, Sakura and I stop and look at each other. It seems like a pretty fair deal. Whether Kakashi-sensei and Sakura wanted to go through with it is a question.

**Author's Notes: Well, that's it. Will Kakashi and Sakura go through with it? I don't know, but both you and I will find out soon enough. Anyways, I'm sorry if this a really short chapter to you guys and I'm sorry that I just kinda left it hanging like that. I was suffering from a really bad writer's block (caused by school). However, I'll try to get Chapter 3 up here ASAP and more things should be happening in that chapter. Also, the whole romance/perverted-ness/lemons should be coming up in the next two or three chapters, just to let you know. Hope you guys enjoyed. Thanks again for your support guys! **

**TTFN-Ta Ta for Now!**


	4. I'll Scratch Your Back

**Author's Note: For the sake of not getting sued, I have to say this: I do NOT own **_**Naruto **_**or any of the characters (except one, because I made her up.) Don't worry, that's the last time I say that. Anyway, thanks for anyone who's been supporting this fanfic! You guys really don't know how much I appreciate that. And again, I'll say this: I'll update as much as I possibly can...I can't make any specific dates with it only because of school and how school makes me get writer's block. So sorry about that. Anyways, on with the story...**

_**Chapter 3- I'll Scratch Your Back...**_

**{Naruto's P.O.V.}**

**(Quick Flashback)**

_"However," Kaede spoke up finally. "I can help you find him. And I can guarentee that my method will be 10 times faster than what ever method you were using."_

_ Sakura's voice immediately sounded perky. "You can do that, for real?"_

_ Kaede nods with an incredibly cocky smile on her face. "Haha, of course I can."_

_ Kakashi-sensei came back into the conversation. "Wait a minute...exactly how can you do that?"  
"...well..." she starts. "You see..."_

_ "See what," I ask her. Silence, at least on her part. "Well, what is it? Spit it out already!"_

_ "I'll tell you what," she says. "As far as I'm concerned, I already held up my end of the bargain, even though it wasn't of much help to you. So how about I make another proposal with you. I can show right now how I can do that only if you promise me..." she trailed off. _

_ "Promise you what?" I asked her. _

_ "Nothing other than what you originally promised me."_

_ Kakashi, Sakura and I stop and look at each other. It seems like a pretty fair deal. Whether Kakashi-sensei and Sakura wanted to go through with it is a question._

**(end quick flashback)**

Kakashi-sensei spoke up. "In order for us to fully trust you, you know you have to show us what you're talking about first, right?"

Kaede's response had a hint of irritation in it. "Of course, I knew you were going to say that." Kakashi sweatdropped and sighed.

"Alright," Kaede said, more seriously now. "If this is going to work properly, these three things need to happen." We listen intently. "Number one, I'm going to need complete and utter silence." Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan shot me a glare. I smile and laugh nervously. "Number two, you're definitely going to have to untie me." Kakashi sighs and unties her. She slowly gets up and stretches, ever so sensually. She turned around and giggled at me. I had to admit that she did have a pretty laugh.

"What's so funny, Kaede," I ask her, my voice a bit harsh.

She stops giggling. "Nothing, Uzumaki-kun. Well, nothing but you."

"Me? What are you talking about?"

"You're funny because you were totally drooling over me when I was stretching and even now you still haven't noticed it."

"WHA-?" I check my mouth. Damn her, she was right! Karma and Déjà vu are the world's biggest bitches [1]! I quickly wipe my mouth while she, again, bursts into laughter. Sakura punches me in the back of the head. "Could you focus for one minute?"

"Sorry, I'll focus now! I got it! I GOT IT!" I tried to tell Sakura while she was wildly shaking me.

"I'm sorry," Kaede says when we all calmed down. "I'm done, I promise." She takes a deep breath and relaxes. "Ok, now, the last thing I need is actually one of your minds." We all look at each other. Then back at her. Then back at each other. Then back at her. [2] Then somehow, I was volunteered. I start to curse under my breath.

"I promise you, Uzumaki-kun," she tells me. "It won't be that bad. But you're definitely going to cooperate with me on this, ok?" I nod. "Do everything that I tell you to, step by step, got it?" I nod again. "Good." She pulls me closer to her. I start panicking a little. "Uzumaki-kun, calm down. Whatever you think I'm going to do to you is not going to happen, ok?" I try to relax, then nod. "Good." She pulls me down to where I'm looking at her at an eye level. Her eyes are really pretty from this view. And it's funny, but I didn't quite pick up on how short she is. "You don't have to mock me because I'm 5 feet tall. Unfortunately, I have no control of my vertically-challenged state." I laugh a little bit, earning a glare and a soft laugh from her. "Sorry," I tell her with a smile.

"Anyways," she says. "Can we focus now?" I nod. "Great." Now that we're at eye level, she leans her forehead forward and gently places it on my forehead. Wow, talk about up close and personal. She quickly looks at Kakashi and Sakura quickly. "Just so you know, this is only a demonstration."

"Hai," I hear them both say.

Kaede turns her attention back to me. "Ok, Uzumaki-kun, here's what I need you to do." I try to pay close attention. "Think of one your friends back home. And could you please not make it harder than it has to be?" I close my eyes and try to do what she says. I thought of Hinata. "Ok, now that you've thought of your friend, I need you to remember what her chakra feels like." Again, I try to do what she says. It took a little while, but then I remembered. Before I realized it, she let go and was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed. I slowly open eyes.

"Huh," I said. "Wait...wha-" I couldn't finish my sentence before Kaede 'shh-ed' me.

"Uzumaki-kun," she says to me. "I need **absolute silence**, please." I start mumbling, cursing under my breath, but do as I'm told.

We stand and watch her as she seems to be meditating. "Hey," I start to yell out. "Could you-" She snaps and gets up and brushes off the dirt on her clothes. With a big, toothy, confident smile, she proudly says, "I can tell you exactly where your friend is and what she's doing at this very second."

"Well," Kakashi-sensei says. "Where is she?"

"As of right now," she says, putting a couple of fingers on one of her temples, closing her eyes. "She's at her house preparing tea for her cousin and father. And no, Hatake-san, there's no possible way I made that up. My mind, unbelievably, doesn't work that way [3]."

"..." was Kakashi's only response, if you could even call it that.

"Now," Kaede continued. "She looks as if she forgotten something and is running to go get it. And ump...she fell." I could tell she tried to hide her laugh. "One thing I have to know, though."

"Yes," Sakura asked.

"Does that convince you?" There was an immediate pause at that question. I was sure as hell convinced. Sakura looked convinced, too. Kakashi-sensei was still questionable.

Kaede, Sakura-chan and I wait patiently for Kakashi-sensei's response. He sighed heavily. "Fine," he finally said.

Kaede's eyes brightened and her smirk turned into a huge bright smile. Her voice reflected her excitement, too. "Do you really mean that, Hatake-san?" He nodded. I never would have expected her to be the extra-perky type. I never would have believed it if it wasn't for the fact that she sprang up from where she was standing and ran to go hug Kakashi-sensei. His visible eye widened. Déjà vu, much. She let go and laughed a little bit. "Sorry for that. You really made me happy just now," she said with a big smile on her face. "Oh yeah, sorry for making you blush, too." My jaw dropped to where it fell it felt like my chin was touching the ground, and so did Sakura's. WHOA! HOW COULD SHE EVEN TELL? "You know, Uzumaki-kun," she said, looking at me straight in the eyes. "I'll tell you later." She laughs softly. She really does have a pretty laugh.

For a short time, we all stood in a comfortable silence. "Sooo..." Kaede started. "Are we going to go now or is there something else you need me to do?"

Kakashi, after he relaxed, spoke up. "We have to tie you up again if you're coming with us."

Kaede laughed in amusement. "Do you find some kind of sick and twisted enjoyment out of tying me up or something?" Again, Kakashi's eye widened. "Relax, I'm just joking. But fine, if it makes you feel better, then go ahead and do it. But, there's one thing I need to do."

I decided to ask, "What is it?"

"Nothing more than take a bath. Can we go to a hot springs on the way?"

"...whatever..." Kakashi-sensei said.

"You know Hatake-san," she said, after sighing. "You don't have to say it like that. Think of this whole thing as 'I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine' sort of thing, ok?"

"..." Kaede soon gave up. Kakashi-sensei then tied her up.

Now, that she showed us that we could trust Kaede, we start to head back. While heading back, for some reason, I decided to carry her on my back, since Kakashi-sensei only tied up her upper body. I don't know why, but I had this strange feeling when I was carrying her. She smelled really good, her scent was intoxicating. Why am I feeling this way?

**Author's Notes: So why is Naruto feeling that way about Kaede? That, my friends I can't tell you right now. So, you'll just have to stay tuned. Anyways, please review and, if possible, please give me any tips, advice, ideas, the whole bit. I'll update ASAP**

**Special Notes: The perverted-ness will definitely happen in the next chapter. The romance, too. So...that's all for that. **

**The Numbers: **

**[1] They really are sometimes, but hey that's life.**

**[2] I referenced the Old Spice commercials where the dude says, "Look at your man. Now look at me. Look back at your man. Now back at me...sadly your man is not me..." LOL I love those commercials.**

**[3] Neither does mine...that's where Kaede gets it from.**

**Well, anyway...that's it for now. Adios!**


	5. This Is New

**Author's Notes: Ok, for one thing, I have to tell you that the last chapter was the last time I have any flashbacks of the previous chapters. I got sick of doing that so I just stopped doing that. Anyway..like I mentioned before in the author's notes in the last couple chapters, the romance starts here. So does the character bashing. **

**Special Notes: Thanks a bunch to anyone who reviewed, favorited or subscribed to this story! I may not know you guys personally, BUT I FRIGGIN LOVE YOU GUYS! Thanks so much! And like I always, say I'll updated ASAP. Please keep reviewing and if you can, please give me any ideas if you have any. I'd dearly appreciate it. Anyways...on with the story...**

_**Chapter 4 - This is new...**_

**(Naruto's P.O.V.)**

We'd been on our way back to the village for at least 2 hours now. I was a little annoyed. Kaede just **had** to fall asleep. She was really wearing me out now.

"Kakashi-sensei," I call out. "Can we stop really quick? She's a little heavy."

"Ok." With that, we stop. I wake Kaede up and get her on her feet. She stretched, yawned, layed down and went back to sleep. She looked so peaceful when she slept. She was actually kinda cute. I sit down next to her, a little closer than I thought. Mindlessly, I start playing with her hair. Oh my goodness! It was so soft. I guess I might have smiled without even realizing it, because Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei were giving me a weird look.

"Oh," Kakashi-sensei chuckled. "I see. So that's why you wanted her to come along." He chuckled again.

"Huh? Wha-what are you talking about," I ask him, slightly blushing and still playing with her hair.

"I see," Kakashi said again. "You like her, don't you?"

I blush madly and fall over. "Like her?" I said, my voice cracking. "How could I? I don't even **know** her!"

"Well, you're definitely not acting like it," he told me. "You're actually kind of obvious." Sakura nodded in agreement with her arms crossed. "You really are, baka," she told me.

"Wait...how can you even tell?" I asked them both.

"Like we said," Sakura says. "You're obvious, Naruto. Anyone could see it. It was in the way you stared at her when you first saw her, your nosebleeding and drooling over her, the fact that you wanted to carry her and how contempt you looked when you did. It was also in the way were smiling when you were stroking her hair just now. And to top it all of, you definitely gave yourself away by the way you're blushing right now." Kakashi-sensei nods. I guess when you break it down like that, it's kinda hard to deny. But I still couldn't help but question it, though. How could anybody crush on someone they hardly know? And that fast, too? I snapped out of my train of thought when I feel some movement next to me. Kaede just woke up. I really didn't know how close I was to her until she tried to get up and her shoulder was on my arm.

She yawned and said, "Uzumaki-kun, you're awfully close, aren't you?" I try to hold back the upcoming blush and slowly inch away. "So, how long have I been sleeping?"

"About an hour," I tell her.

"Oh." Then a quick silence was drawn. Kaede looks around, a confused expression on her face. "Did something happen while I was asleep?"

"Well," Kakashi started. "Naruto here li-" I cut him off.

"NOTHING! Nothing happened." I tried to sound as convincing as possible. She gave me a suspicious look. I could tell she wasn't buying it. Luckily, she didn't try to push it. "O-kay," was her only response.

"Why don't we just go now," Kakashi suggested. Kaede and I got up and I put her on my back again. We kept going from there. Maybe I had a really relaxed smile on my face because Sakura looked back at me and giggled to herself. I should really be mindful of when I'm doing that.

We continued for about 45 minutes before we come across a hot springs. We go in, get our room keys, locker keys and robes and I-unfortunately for me-pay. We go up to the room and get settled. Around 5 minutes later, Kaede and I leave and go to the pool area.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~On the girls' side~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**(Kaede's P.O.V.)**

I kept my towel around me until I get in the water. It's been so long since I've been in one of these. The water felt so good. I even kick my feet around in it just for the fun of it.

I managed to relax for at least 10 minutes before I got company.

"Hi, Kaede-san," Haruno-san called.

"Oh, hey," I say back.

She got into the water. For a little while, we just sit in a comfortable silence while enjoying the water. Haruno-san broke the silence.

"Kaede-san," she said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

"It may seem like a dumb question, but-" I cut her off.

"You know there's no such thing as a dumb question." Only dumb people who ask questions, I'd normally say. [1]

"How old are you? I just wanted to know for some reason."

"Interesting that you ask that. I'm nineteen." She looked at me with a surprised look on her face.

"What is it," I asked her.

"It's nothing. You just look a little younger than what you actually are."

** "**So I've been told." We go into another silence. I stretch and decide to get out. I start to feel a bit uncomfortable when I felt eyes on me.

"Um..." I start. "Is there something you want, Haruno-san?" I put my towel back on around me.

"..."

"Ok..." I turn around and start to walk away. I turn back around when I remembered to tell Haruno-san, "You know, you don't have to glare at me while I'm not looking just because I have a much better body than you." I turn around again and walk away quickly. Hehe. I can tell she was **pissed. **

I go back to my locker and discover that I left my robe in the room. "Oh crap!" I rush back and try to get there before I was noticed. Luckily, when I got there, I was the only one in the room.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~on the boy's side~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**(Naruto's P.O.V.)**

I finally got out of the water after being practically tortured by Kakashi-sensei. Apparently, he thinks my little 'crush'-if you could even call it that-is a joke.

**(cue flashback)**

_ "So, you've gotten over Sakura rather quickly, haven't you, Naruto?"_

_ I move wildly in the water. "Say WHAT?" He laughed at me harder than he normally would. I glare at him before sinking under the water. _

_ "But," he continued. "I have to commend you on your upgrade, though." He laughed, kinda evilly, too. I start inching away from him. "Relax, Naruto, I'm just joking." Riiiiiiiight. _

_ "You know, it's only a joke if you're not the only one laughing [2]," I tell him. He huffed._

_ "Anyway," he said. "If you are going to have a crush on her, at least be careful. She still is questionable, you know."_

_ "Uh huh..." I say, honestly caring less about what he just told me. I don't have a crush on her...at least I don't think I do._

_ "And since you're so interested in her," he said. I rolled my eyes, bracing myself for whatever he could possibly say next. "I think you and I should have 'the talk.' " I knew exactly what he was talking about when he said that. At that point, I jumped out of the pool. _

_ "Hey, where're you going?" I ran, ignoring his question. I run to my locker, grab my robe and clothes and rush back to the room. I was taken by surprise when I found Kaede in the room...naked. 'DAMN!' I thought. 'Why does Kami hate me right now?'_

**(end flashback) **

For some reason, I couldn't help but stare at her. She didn't seem to notice me, though, which was strange. I had to make sure I didn't have a nosebleed. Unfortunately, I did.

"I never thought you were the 'peeping-perverted' type, Uzumaki-kun," she told me. Of course she saw me. I've got to be the luckiest guy right now. She put her robe on. "You see," she starts. "I have a special policy for peeping little boys." She turned around and glared at me. I wanted to run, but my legs couldn't move. Her eyes turned red, just like mine when Kyuubi gives me some of his chakra. She moves up to me quicker than I could even see. Damn, she's fast. She pulls me down to where we're looking at each other, eye-to-eye. She stands her tip-toes and-to my surprise-gently kisses my forehead. Her lips were so soft. That was so nice! But yet again, to my surprise, she punched me square in the cheek. SHIT! She hits DAMN hard! Much harder than Sakura-chan. I was out cold for quite a while.

I wake back up from my semi-coma 30 minutes later to find that the only ones that were in the room were still me and Kaede. She turns around and sees that I was finally awake. "Oh, Uzumaki-kun, you're awake now." I glare at her a little, which gives me a huge headache. She comes next to me and starts cleaning me up. "I'm sorry about that, Uzumaki-kun, I was just sticking to my policy." I stay quiet.

We were in a comfortable silence while she continued to clean me up. I break the silence. "You know, Kaede," I started. "You don't have to call me Uzumaki-kun."

"I'm sorry about that, too." I never would have dubbed her as the apologetic type. "I tended to be more formal about things more than I needed to be, so it basically became a habit." We stayed quite for a few minutes. She started back up again. "What can I call you?"

"Just call me Naruto," I tell her. She giggles a bit. I can honestly say that I love, yes love, her laugh.

"Ok, Naruto," she said with a pretty smile. She finishes cleaning me up. She shifted her body into a more comfortable position. "So, Naruto, I have a feeling that there's something you want to ask me. And no, I didn't read your mind to come up with that. I just had a feeling you did."

She's good, I have to give her that much. I leaned against the wall behind me and thought about it. "Well, there's a lot I want to know about you, but I just don't know where to start."

"Ok," she said. "How about I start with basic stuff? You already know my name and where I'm from originally. I guess I can start with my age and my likes and dislikes. I'm nineteen and, as surprising as it may sound, I like many things, music the number one thing. I really like animals and other things that I, for whatever reason, can't think of right now. Anything else? I don't mind answering your questions, no matter how weird, stupid, or personal they are." That was kind of reassuring. I got the impression that she really trusted me, even though we hard know each other. "I do, even though it may sound ridiculous, Naruto."

"Well," I start, starting to feel uncomfortable. "What about your family? What happened to them?"

She sighed and looked sad. "I'm sorry," I said. "I shouldn't hav-" She cut me off.

"No, Naruto, it's fine." She took in a deep breath and let it out. "It's a long story, but to make a long story short, they're gone."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I say sympathetically. I unconsciously put a hand on her shoulder.

"Naruto, it's ok, don't worry about me," she said with a smile. That somehow made me feel worse. I wanted to hug her, because I know it must hurt. "You can if you want to," she said. Whoa! I didn't even realize it, but next thing I know, I had my arms wrapped tightly around her torso. "You know, Naruto, even though we may not know each other very well," she started. "I can tell how much of a good friend and overall person you are. That makes me happy!" She had the biggest smile on her face and I couldn't help but to reflect that. We stayed like that for a few minutes. I then try to let go of her, letting my fingers slide against her side unconsciously. I didn't even notice until she started giggling.

"What's funny," I asked.

"You just tickled me, you jerk!" I couldn't believe she was the ticklish type either! Then, I get an evil idea. I start tickling her on purpose. She was rolling all over the floor, trying to kick me off and yelling and laughing all at same time.

"Naruto, you ass," she said in between laughs. "Stop tickling me! Stop it, you jerk! Stop it! STOP IT!" At that moment, I stopped, on top of her looking at her gorgeous honey eyes. I didn't know what came over me at that moment, but I had the urge to kiss her. She looked so pretty now. I leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped me by saying, "Wow. You're getting quite personal already, aren't you?" I slowly lift my head up. I stay on top of her for a little while longer. I couldn't move just yet, the site of her was too beautiful. Because I was such in a trance by looking at her, I didn't even hear the door open. I didn't notice that Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan were back until I hear Sakura yell at me.

"Naruto, what the HELL are you doing?"

**Author's Notes: Aww...Naruto's already crushing hard. How cute! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. This has got to be the longest chapter up to date. It took me a while to get it up here, but I made sure to get up here ASAP. Please review. Thanks mucho for your support.**

**The Numbers: **

**[1] Yes, I do say that. On top of that, anyone who says that there is no such thing as a dumb question is a damn liar.**

**[2] Yes, that is also true. So many don't realize that their jokes aren't funny if they're the only ones laughing. **

**Til next time...sayonara!**


	6. So Soon?

**Author's Notes: Amazingly, I don't have much to say. I'll say this like I always have: Thanx for the reviews & support. You guys don't know how much that means to me. Oh yeah, I plan to reveal Kaede's past in this chapter, so yeah. But that's pretty much all I have to say. Well, since it's like that, then why not recap a little?**

**Recap: In the last chapter, the Konoha team and Kaede were on their way back to Konoha. On the way, Sakura and Kakashi discover (or point out, really) that Naruto has a crush on Kaede. After which, they stop at a hot springs. In the hot springs, Kaede and Naruto are left alone in their room and with their time together, decide to get a little closer. But just how close?**

_**Chapter 5 - So Soon?**_

**(Naruto's P.O.V.)**

"Naruto, what the **HELL** are you doing?"

Kaede and I slowly move our heads in their direction. I quickly look at her. Her face turned red and she kicked me off of her. She kicks pretty hard, too. I flew to one side of the room while she scooted to another.

"Well," Sakura-chan kept screaming."What happened in here?"

My voice got shaky as I tried to reassure her. "Look, Sakura-chan, this isn't what it looks like. It's not what you think it is."

"Dumbass, what the hell could it be if it's not **that**?"

I honestly couldn't answer that. Because of that, she punched me into another wall. I could tell my face was gonna be swollen for a while. I slowly get up from where I landed after five minutes. I could tell Kaede was trying to calm Sakura down.

"Haruno-san," she said. "Even though it may not seem that way, but honestly, what you **think** happened did **not **happen."

"Then what did happen?"

"Well you see, we were talking for a little bit and he happened to have found out that I'm **extremely** ticklish so he kept tickling me and-" Sakura cut her off.

"You know what...I don't want to know anymore!" We all got quiet. I approached the others. Sakura glared at me, **hard. **Kaede gave me an apologetic expression. I put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look that said, 'It's ok. It's not your fault.'

After a few minutes, Sakura-chan stormed out and Kaede decided to go for a walk, leaving only Kakashi-sensei and I in the room. Oh Kami! I'm definitely not a fan of your twisted, cruel jokes. I braced myself for the torment that lied ahead.

"So Naruto," Kakashi-sensei starts. "You move pretty fast, don't you?" I was just waiting for that. I still start blushing.

"What-what are y-you talking about?" He laughs.

"Nothing. I'm just saying. You met the girl not too long ago, and the minute you get her alone, you're on top of her. You must really want her."

"Kakashi-sensei! It's not even like that. I mean, she's pretty and she's nice, but I don't-" I trail off. I couldn't finish my sentence. I got so confused. I don't think I like her. I mean, I barely know her and I did just meet her. But at the same time, I do like being around her and there are a lot of things I was beginning to like about her-like her smile, her laugh, her eyes, a lot. But there was no way I could like her **that** much so soon.

I snap out of my train of thoughts when Kakashi asks, "Do you think Sakura's jealous?" That shocked me to the point where I uncontrollably cough.

"HUH? What kind of question is **THAT?**"

"Relax, Naruto, I'm joking. But I'll leave it alone for now since your lover's coming back. I would leave you two alone, but I now know what'll happen if I do."

I ignore his comments as Kaede walks back in the room.

"Hey, Hatake-san, Naruto," she said, sitting in front of us. "Hey," I said back. I could tell she felt a weird atmosphere in the room.

"Did something happen while I was gone?"

"Don't worry about it," I told her.

"O-kay."

"Did you happen to find Sakura while you were out, Kaede," Kakashi asked.

"No. Besides, I don't think she would want to see me anyway." We paused. She glances at my face and gives me a concerned look. She reaches into her robe pocket and pulls out a pack of ice.

"Here, Naruto," she said. "I got this for you while I was out." She came up next to me and gently placed it on my cheek. She's a lot more caring than I would have ever thought. Kakashi raises an eyebrow at us. I ignored him. I was only focused on her for the time being.

"So, I've noticed you've stopped calling Naruto 'Uzumaki-kun,' Kaede," Kakashi stated. "Why is that exactly?"

She picked up my hand and put it on the ice pack. "Well, Naruto insisted stop calling him that. He just wanted me to call him Naruto, so I did."

"I see." There was a quick silence.

"And no, Hatake-san," Kaede starts. "He didn't mean that in the way you're thinking of. [1]" I glare at him. Nasty perverted prick. We stayed quiet.

Ten minutes later, Sakura-chan came back. She still looked mad. I try talking to her.

"Uh, hey Sakura-cha-" She slapped me in the back of the head. I really shouldn't have said anything. She was **clearly** still mad at me. I let it go and rubbed my head while she went into the back room.

"O-kay. I guess we should let her be for the night," Kaede said. Now that I think about it, it was getting kind of late. We paused.

"I guess I should go check on Sakura," Kakashi said getting up. "And Naruto..."  
"Hmm?"

"Don't do anything I wouldn't approve of."

"SHUT UP SENSEI!" He left, leaving me and Kaede alone. She laughed at me. I guess I still must have been blushing.

"Naruto," she said a little more seriously. "I just wanted to apologize for earlier."

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but I felt like I should apologize anyway."

"You know, you apologize a lot. Almost too much. Why is that?"

"I guess it's because of the way I was raised. You see, my father always made a point to tell my otouto and me that we should always take responsibility for our screw-ups. Like any other kid, it was just one of those things I never really listened to or cared about. But now, I guess I do that because it reminds me of him."

"Hm. How did he-" I stop. I felt like I was going too far. We stayed quiet for a while. I think I might have made her sad.

"Naruto, you don't have to worry about me. I promise you I'm ok." At that moment, without my consent, my body moved on its own. Next thing I know, I was holding her so tightly. I would've let go, but it felt so nice and she didn't seem to mind. She looked up at me.

"You know, Naruto," she started. "I don't know why, but I just want to let you know that you don't have to be afraid to ask me anything. I like your questions, for some reason. I guess I just want you to trust me and I want to trust you, Naruto." She had the biggest, cutest smile on her face. That really warmed my heart. We stayed quiet for a while, it was so comfortable.

"Kaede," I asked. "How did you become an assasin? I mean, you don't look or act like one, so how did that even happen?"

She sighed. "It's a long story, but I'll sum it up as much as possible. You see, when I was twelve, my father and mother were killed in a fire caused by a few rogue-nins. For a while, it was my otouto [2], Kyohei, and me. Luckily for us though, a good friend of my father, Sayu, took care of us. However, another rogue-nin killed Sayu-san and took my otouto when I was 14. I went everywhere looking for him-and a place to stay. Eventually, I found a family of assasins. They saw much potential in me and they wanted me to join their family. They made a deal with me that if I took out some of the people on their hit list, then they'd give me food, clothes, shelter and even help me find my otouto. I know it may have sounded shady, but at the time, but it seemed fair to me. I didn't care about anything but finding Kyohei. But there was only one thing to the agreement I didn't know about."

"What was it," I asked her.

"See, the people they wanted me to kill had absolute nothing to do with assasins. Hell, even some had nothing to do with shinobi! But I didn't know that, so I did as I was told to do. Apparently, some shinobi found out what they were doing and wanted to stop them. At the first chance they got, they pointed the finger at me, calling me a 'troublemaker', 'insane', 'psychotic' and 'no good.' They pretty much would have left me for dead if that meant they got away with what they did. It sucked because not only did they not help find my otouto, but they nearly got me killed. And I actually thought of them as family, because I'd do anything for them in a heartbeat. I mean, they took me in and took care of me. I did their dirty work for them, for at least three years. But, they lied to me and wanted me dead." She sighed. "That's why there's nothing in the world I hate more than a liar!" She looked downright **furious **towards the end of her story. Even her eyes were red. I hold her even tighter to calm her down. Luckily it did.

She sighed and then smiled. "Naruto," she started. "I'm glad you listened to my story. It's been so long since someone actually listened to what I had to say. I really appreciate that." I smile. I can tell that she has a really good heart. Unconsciously, I kiss her on the forehead. I pull away from her a little and looked in her eyes. They were filled with shock.

"What is it," I asked her, taken by surprise.

"You just kissed me. I'm just a little surprised."

I look at her in disbelief. "I did?"

She nodded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"I'm not mad, if you think that's why I'm saying that, Naruto. I'm just surprised, is all."

We both start blushing and pull away from each other. We sat in a somewhat comfortable, yet somewhat awkward silence.

"Well, I guess that's for earlier then," I said.

"What," she asked.

"You kissed me on my forehead, before punching me square in the face and knocking me out, earlier. I guess that's why I did it. To get even I guess." I tried to make it sound as convincing as possible. I really did that just because I truly couldn't help it.

"No, you didn't." She saw right through me.

"Damn, I had a feeling you wouldn't fall for that. At least I tried."

"Yeah, you did. But not hard enough," she laughed.

"You know, Kaede. I just wanted to tell that I really like your laugh. It's pretty."

"You do?"

I nod with a big smile.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"I think I'm also starting to trust you now, too, Kaede."

She looks at me with a shocked expression. She then relaxes and smiles. "I trust you, too, Naruto." She stopped, looking like she obviously had something else to say. "I also think that..." she stopped.

"What?"

"I think that someday..." she pauses. She reaches up to my lips and kisses me. "I just wanted to tell you that I think you're going to a make a woman really happy one day." She said that with a nice, warm smile. I blink at her, unsure of what to think or say. Is that a hint that she likes me?

**Author's Notes: Well, does Kaede like Naruto? Can this be the beginning of a beautiful relationship? Stick around to find out! Anywho, thanx again for your reviews and support! I appreciate it a lot. And please keep doing that. It keeps me motivated. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It might be longest up-to-date. **

**Special Notes: Due to projects and other school related stuff, I doubt I'll be able to update as frequently as I have been. I will try to update ASAP, but there really aren't any promises that it'll be as soon as it has been. But anyways, I think in the next chapter, they should be getting back to Konoha, finally. Only chaos will unravel when they do get there, so I just wanted to let you guys know that.**

**The Numbers:**

**[1] I apologize for writing it in a very vague way, but what I meant was sexually. (You know, like moaning and screaming his name.) I only say that if you didn't initially get it.**

**[2] Otouto, if you didn't know, means 'little brother' in Japanese. **

**Anyways, TTFN (tah tah for now!)**


	7. Unexpected

**Author's Notes: I'm sorry this chapter took for FLIPPIN ever to upload, but like I said in my special note, I've had a really bad writer's block. Luckily, some people helped me with that.**

**Special Notes: Review as always, but no flames will be accepted or acknowledged, so don't do it!**

**Enjoy this chapter!**

_**Chapter 6 - Unexpected**_

**(Naruto's P.O.V.)**

She stayed motionless, looking me in the eyes. Her eyes were a deep azure color. I can tell that she regretted doing that.

She scooted away from me. She was saying inaudible things under her breath. She sighed and got up. "I'm sorry I did that, Naruto." She hung her head dwon and began to walk away. I quickly grab her wrist. She turned around slowly, revealing a very confused look.

"Wh-what are y-y-you d-doing?" she asked, trumbling. I didn't answer her question. Instead, I gave her a serious look that screamed, 'Please, don't leave!'

"Uh, Naruto..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not leaving, I promise. But could you let go of my wrist? Your grip is too strong."  
I relax my face and my grip. She massaged her wrist.

"Damn, Naruto, you got one hell of a grip!"

We went back into a silence. Her laughter broke the silence.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"Well," she said. "This was surely an eventful day, wasn't it? I mean, you come at me with your sensei and friend with a mind track to kill me and look at us now; opening up to each other, hugging, kissing, the whole bid. It's just funny to me how much things change in a day. I'm sure this whole thing is new for you, right?"

I laugh along with her after thinking about it. "Yeah, I guess you're right. That's definitely never happened to me before."

"Hm. Me neither," she chuckles. She pauses. "Hey, I got an idea."

"What is it?"  
"Just for now, why don't keep this whole thing a secret. You know, just for a little while. I mean, it would probably better if we don't let Hatake-san know. And Haruno-san **especially** can't know."

"Why Sakura, **especially**?" I asked, mocking her tone.

She gave me a quick glare. Anyways, she can't know because she's well..."  
"She's what?" The suspense was killing me. Jeez, this wasn't a movie, dammit!

"She's...well...jealous." My jaw drops. I couldn't believe that. Sakura? Jealous?

"It may be hard to believe, but it's true. It's in her thoughts and in her actions. Truth be told, she's jealous of both of us in a way."

"Huh?"

"I'll explain. She's jealous of you because she really didn't expect you to, you know, fall for a person. you barely know so easily. And to have said person," she said pointing to herself, "seemingly fall for you just as easily. She's jealous because that didn't happen to her with, well, you know. She also sees you as one of her 'back-up guys,' so the fact that you might have someone and are paying to very little attention to her in that sort of way doesn't make her all that happy. By the way, there's no way I could have made that up."

I find myself becoming furious by what she said. I've practically been in love with Sakura for years and **that's** how she saw me. As a back-up? What the **HELL** did she take me for?

"While you're inwardly yelling at her, can I at least finish?"

"Fine."

"Anyways, she's also jealous of me for two very simple reasons: 1) I easily got your attention and you barely know me and 2) I have a better body than her."

I stop. I'm still a little shocked by that. When she said that, I started to remember how Kakashi had said that Kaede _is_ an upgrade compared to Sakura.

"Oh, Hatake-san really feels that I'm an upgrade? I'm flattered by his comments. I even agree with that," she said, gripping her chin and slyly smiling.

"Wait...**what**?"

"Well, look at me, Naruto. I have a goddess's body compared to her!"

"How could you say that?"

"Easily, just look at me. I mean, I have D-cups, a nice, firm behind, and ridiculous curves, if I do say so myself. Haruno-san on the other hand, is a different story. She does have a washboard body, whether you compare her to me or not. So when I put in those terms, it's easy to see who the obvious choice is. But at the same time, I'm talking about bodies. Personality is a whole different subject, even though I think I'd win that contest too."

Damn that Kaede! It's pretty damn cruel to say something about Sakura-chan, even though it's true. But that doesn't matter, it's still wrong to say about someone you hardly know. But then again, I shouldn't care because I'm just a 'back-up' to her. But she was definitely wrong for saying that.

"Naruto," she says abruptly, pulling me out of my train-of thought. "Your waffling is giving me a headache."

"You know," I say back. "You wouldn't have one if you got out of my head for a while."

"As nice as that would be, I can't do that. My mind-reading ablity isn't necessarily a jutsu. It's just one of those things that I can't turn on or off. I'm always able to read minds whether I want to or not."

Wow. The down-side to her incredible ability.

"Thanks," she said sarcastically. I gotta admit, that's starting to get annoying. I let it go, though. She starts yawning and looks out the window. "It's pretty late, isn't it?"

"Yeah, guess so."  
She stretches and yawns. "Well, guess I should get some sleep. Goodnight, Naruto." She smiled and gently kissed me on the cheek.

She layed down on the bed. A few moments later, she was breathing softly, sleeping like a baby. I lay down next to her, keeping my distance, of course. I look at her, admiring the way she looks so peaceful while she's sleeping. Before I knew it, I was sleeping just as peacefully.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Next Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

I wake up the next morning and see Kaede still sleeping. From the looks and sounds of things, I was the only one awake. I look over at Kaede. She really did look peaceful when she sleeps. Not long after I wake, Kaede stretches, yawns and rolls out of bed. She must have hit her head on the floor.

"Aw shit, not again!" She exclaimed, rubbing her head. She's obviously not a morning person [1]. She looks up at me and her expression changes.

"Oh, hey, Naruto. Did you sleep well?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I did." I stretched. "So you're not much of a morning person, are you?"

"Shut up!" She glared then softly laughed. "Hey," she continued. "Are we the only ones up?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. I haven't seen Kakashi-sensei or Sakura-chan today. Besides, I just woke up a little while ago."

"Ok. Well, I'm sure we'll see them soon."

"Yeah, you're probably right." We paused, still trying to fully wake up.

"Hey, Naruto," Kaede calls, breaking the silence. "About last night, are you okay with keeping it a secret for a while, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I only ask now because I didn't ask last night and we never shook on it."

"Wha-?"

"Well, let's just pinky swear on it." She held out her pinky. I hooked mine with hers.

"Deal?" she asks.

"Deal!"

She catches me off guard by kissing me on the cheek. She giggles.

"Let's keep that between us, too." I smiled.

That would have been a sweet moment if only Kakashi-sensei hadn't seen it. DAMN, THE CRUEL SICK IRONY!.

"Hatake-san," Kaede called. "How long have you been there?"

"Oh I don't know," he says, using his patronizingly sarcastic voice. "Somewhere around the 'let's-keep-last-night-a-secret' part."

Asshole. We both sweatdrop and glare at him.

He continued. "So, what did happen last night?" He raised an eyebrow. I could tell he had a stupid smirk on his face under that mask.

"Well, you see..." Kaede started.

"We can't tell you," I blurted out. I start laughing.

"Why not?" he asked.

"It's a secret, remember? Right, Kaede?" I say slyly.

"Huh? Oh yeah! It's TOP secret," she said in giggles.

Kakashi sweatdropped and sighed. "Never mind."

"We're not lovers, by the way," Kaede said. He gave us an exhausted look. We laugh even more. He turned away and was half-way out the door before he said, "If you need me, I'll be in the pool. But I'm sure you two won't because you guys can keep each other plenty busy." I glare at him while Kaede laughs. He leaves in laughter. He comes back for a quick second. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that we're leaving today as soon as I'm done, so get packing." He then turns and finally leaves.

"Well then, why don't we get ready?" Kaede asked.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~later that day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

We had our things packed and prepared to leave to finally get back home. Luckily, Sakura was starting to talk to me again. She even apologized. Kaede was something different. Sakura barely** looked** at her. But then again, Kaede didn't seem to notice. That's something I really don't get about girls [2].

We left the hot springs and Kakashi conveniently remembered to chain Kaede up. I was starting to think he got some sick, perverted kick out of that. I let it go and put Kaede on my back. We head out from there.

Several hours later, we finally arrive at the village gates. The minute we got past the gates, I had to put Kaede down. She really doesn't know how lucky she is, being able to take a nap while _someone_ has to carry her. I can't believe she did it again! I wake her up.

"Hmm?" she asked, still waking up. "What happened? Where are we?"

"Konohagakure," I told her.

She looks around in disbelief. "Hah, so this is it? Nice village."

"Uh thanks," we all said awkwardly and in unison.

"We should probably get going to Tsunade-sama," Sakura rang in.

"Uh, right," I said, stretching my back.

With that, I put Kaede on my back and we head off.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~in Tsunade's office~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

We came in Baa-chan's office quietly and stood in front of her desk.

"Welcome back," she said. "So how did things go?"

I took Kaede off of my back and sat her down on the floor.

"So I see that you did find her and take her down," Tsunade said calmly. I was waiting for _**it.**_ "Not exactly what I had in mind, but you all did do what I asked." I backed up a little. "I'll let it slide just this once." I sighed in relief. "As for you," she said, turning her attention to Kaede. "I have a special treatment for you." She gulped while giving a look of horror.

**Author's Notes: I wanted to thank a few people: 1. Trey of the rebellion (your idea will definitely be used in the next chapter at the earliest. I really appreciate your help.) 2. NanMiya (thanx 4 your help, too!) 3. John Lennon (your music gets my creative juices flowing! Thanx a bunch and RIP!)**

**Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and thanx a lot to every1 who was bearing with me during my writer's block. I appreciate that too. Again, reviews, suggestions, and constructive critizism accepted. Flames are not, so don't waste your time!**

**The Numbers:**

**[1] Kaede's not a morning person and neither am I.**

**[2] It's not meant to be understood, accepted only!**

**'Til next time, ciao!**


	8. Closer

**Author's Notes: Hey Hey! I think I'm slowly getting over my writer's block. I had a little help and I did give shout outs to those people. (Trey of the rebellion: You're welcome for the shout out.) I really appreciate all of the support and whatnot that everyone's been giving me! You guys are so friggin awesome 4 it.**

**Special Notes: From here on out in the story, there will be some time-skipping. (Meaning that it will go from one day to several months and stuff like that.) Also, Kaede learns more about Naruto. And just because this is important to know in this chapter, this is right before the whole ordeal with Pein, just to let you know.**

**Warning(s): There will be some peeping going on and Naruto is a little OOC, so you've been warned. But that's enough ranting...on with the story...**

_**Chapter 7 - Closer**_

**(Naruto's POV)**

It's been three days since we got back to the village. That 'treatment' Tsunade-baachan had for Kaede was some **serious** jail time after being interrogated by Ibiki. When they took her, she didn't put up any kind of fight. She just sat and took it. She really might be serious about not wanting to fight anyone anymore. But I didn't know about everything they were doing to her. I know what had to be done, but at the same time, I felt weird not having her around. We were getting so close, and now, it feels like it's all over. I just hope she's okay.

I mindlessly walk around the village when I bump into Sakura-chan.

"Oh, hey Sakura-chan!" I smile at her.

"Hey, Naruto, what're you doing wandering around like that?"

"Hmm? Oh, I just decided to take a walk."

"Are you okay? You look like you're down about something."

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking."

She looked at me skeptically. "Are you sure you're okay? You really aren't acting like it."

"Yeah, Sakura-chan, you don't have to worry about me."

"Well, okay, I'll see you later. Keep your head up, okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I will. See you later," I said, waving her off and continuing with my walk. She obviously knew something was up with me, but there was no way I'd tell her what was really getting me down. From the way she acted when she saw me and Kaede at the hot springs a few days ago, she definitely would have been mad with me, and I definitely don't want to go through that whole situation again. But there's one thing I just can't understand. If I met her only a few days ago, why am I so upset that she's gone? And why was I so anxious to see her again?

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~three months later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

I slowly get out of bed after the sun beamed on my face. I was about to take a shower when I hear a knock on the door. I slowly crept towards the door. Soon, those knocks turned into bangs, and said bangs were giving me migraines.

"HOLD ON A MINUTE, WOULD YA?" I screamed out to the door. I angrily opened the door, just to get the surprise of my life.

"Hey, Naruto, how have you been?" Kaede asked me.

"Kaede? Are you seriously-" I ask in disbelief.

"Nope, I'm just an illusion," she said sarcastically, moving her hands around in my face.

I glare at her.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," she said. "But seriously, how have you been, Naruto?"

"I-I've been ok, when did you-" she cut me off.

"This morning. They were really lenient with me, I'm surprised it's only been three months since I got incarcerated. It went by faster than I thought, for sure." I let her in.

"Uh, yeah, it did." She felt the awkward tension I was giving off.

"Are you okay, Naruto?"

"Uh, yeah, it's just weird seeing you after all this time."

"O-kay. Well, did I wake you or something?"

"No, I was about to take a shower actually."

"Can I watch?"

"WHAT? YOU PERVERT!"

She bursts into laughter. "Relax, I'm just joking! I really wouldn't do that, unless you want me to."

"What? Why would I want you to-?"  
"Use your imagination."

I sweatdrop and sighed. I change the subject. "So, how have you been?"

"I've been alright. Not particularly bad considering my situation."

She stops and looks at me. "Were you worried about me or something?"

"Uh, no...I mean, well-" I stop and start fidgeting and kicking around.

"You obviously don't know how dumb it is to lie to a mind-reader."

She got me on that one. I had to just be up front with it then. "Yeah, I was. I mean, I just didn't know what was going on and-" she cuts me off by lightly kissing me.

"You really don't know how cute you are when you get like that. It's really adorable."

"Hey, don't call me cute...I'm not-"

"Relax, Naruto, I'm joking. Well, anyway, I should get going. I have to report to Tsunade-sama in a little while. I'll see you around." She kisses me on the cheek. "Bye, Naruto."

With that, she gave a quick hug and walked out. It's funny, I haven't seen her in a while, and yet, she still has the same affect on me that she had when I first got to know her. I really wish I knew what she was doing to me, though.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~later that day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

I walked around until I found myself in front of the hot springs. Since I was here, I just decided to take a bath. When I get to the pool, I found Ero-sennin, _peeping._ I start wondering to myself if it was even worth trying to talk to him. I try to anyway.

I approached him, still wondering if I really should try to talk to him. "Hey, Ero-sennin."

He quickly looked at me. "Hey, Naruto." He quickly looked back to the victim of his perverted activities. Poor girl!

"You never get tired of that, do you, Ero-sennin?"

He shoots me a quick glare. "Why would I? You'd understand if you saw this babe right here. Talk about a hottie!" He stops talking and keeps cooing over his 'babe.' I sighed and sweatdropped. Only with women is Ero-sennin completely hopeless.

I start walking past him when I notice a little crack in the fence. 'Strange,' I thought. 'It's rare that happens.' I shrug it off and try to walk away when Ero-sennin's leg knocked me into the fence, my head landing right where the crack was.

"Ow! What the hell?" I scream. I lift my head away from the crack and unintentionally look through it, and see Kaede. Since Ero-sennin was right under me, I assumed that he was peeping on her. I don't know why, but I got slightly defensive.

"Ero-sennin, not cool!"

"What's your problem all of a sudden?"

I really didn't know, but I did know that I didn't like him peeping on her.

"Look, just don't peep on her. I don't care if you peep on other girls, just not her [1]."

He gives me an irritated and confused look.

"Why is she so special to you, anyway? Who is she to you?"

That, I couldn't answer either. He took my silence as an opportunity to continue what he was doing. Amazingly, that's gotta be one of the hardest questions someone asked me.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~meanwhile, on the other side~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**(Kaede's POV)**

The water felt so good. This was just what I needed. I was so focused on what I was going to do now that I was out, I hadn't even paid attention to the fact that my legs were so sore. I've never been so much pain before. But then again, I guess that's what hardcore labor in _jail_ of all places does to a person [2]. I'm just glad I can relax now, though. Or so I thought.

I was relaxing, at first, until I heard strange noises coming from behind me. I just ignore for the time being and just continue to relax and hope the water would relax my muscles. I heard those noises again. It sounded like a man giggling. I really hope that guy was laughing at something on the boys' side because if he was peeping, then well, he'd just have to find out was going to happen to him. I hear it again. I look at in that direction. I squint and see through the fence [3]. I see an old man, peeping on me. I get out of the water and get my robe. I reach into the pocket and pull out a kunai [4]. I aim in that direction and...

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~back on the boy's side~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**(back to Naruto's POV)**

Out of nowhere, a kunai came flying through the fence and hit Ero-sennin square in the forehead. He passes out for a minute. When he wakes up, he left, rather quickly, too. Next thing I know, I see Kaede sitting on the fence, glaring at me.

"So, you were the one peeping on me?"

"NOOO! OF COURSE NOT!"

"Well, since this is a bit of an awkward time, I'll come over later so we can talk about it, okay?"

With that, she got off the fence and left.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~at Naruto's apartment~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

I get home and think about what just happened at the hot spings. I start pacing around, nervous about what Kaede was going to do to me. I went through ways of how was going to explain this whole thing to her. And speaking of the devil, she came knocking.

"Hey Naruto," she said using a passive-aggressive tone.

"Uh...hey...Kaede."

"Okay, I'll just jump right into it. Wanna tell me what happened?"

"Well, you see..." I start. I, as quickly as I could, explain to her what _really_ happened at the hot springs. I couldn't believe I was actually studdering, too, but then again, she can be **quite** scary when she's mad. She sighs and relaxes.

"Okay," she says. "So, you did stick up for me?"

I nod. "Yeah, I did. I didn't want him to do that to you. And I didn't want you to kick his ass for doing that."

She giggles. "I appreciate that so much, Naruto. It's been so long since someone stuck up for me. You doing that makes me happy." She comes closer to me and lightly kisses me on my cheek. "Thank you so much." Her eyes were that pretty violet color I loved to see. She hugs me. I wrap my arms around her delicate frame and hold her tightly. She pulls back a little and looks me deeply in the eyes. I couldn't really tell, but I detected some affection in her eyes. She then kisses me on the lips. Slowly but surely, the kiss deepened. I don't what came over me, but I found it hard to resist. It felt so good, I couldn't pull away. On the other hand, she did. She looked up at me with now silvery eyes.

"Kaede," I start, giving a concerned tone. "What's wrong? What's up with your eyes?"

"Hmm? Oh...uh...I-I-I just think I'm going t-too fast."

"What're you talking about?"

"I mean, let's face it. We still hardly know each other and I'm just doing that. I just think I'm really getting ahead of myself. I mean, don't you feel like this whole thing is getting a little out of control for two people who really don't know each other all that well?"

In that sense, she did have a point, but at the moment, I didn't care. All I cared about at the moment was trying to comfort her.

"Well, if it'll make you feel better, why don't we try to get to know each other? Right here, right now."

She seemed to cheer up a little bit.

"Okay, then, why don't you tell me about yourself? If I recall it correctly, you asked a lot about me, but barely told me anything about yourself."

She was right about that. I didn't even think about telling her about my background. She didn't seem to want to know anything in particular, so I just started from childhood. I tell her Kyuubi and my parents. I tell her about when I was little, how everyone treated me back then and about the Sandaime. I stop for a second. I had already got past that stuff, but I guess I get emotional thinking about it.

"Naruto," she said, snapping me out of my train of thought. "If it's hard to talk about, you don't have to tell me everything. I don't want to put that burden on you."

"It's ok, Kaede, really. I can handle it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Can I finish?"

"Sure."

I continue with my story. I tell her about Iruka-sensei and when Team 7 was formed. I stop and smile to myself. Those were good times. She sees me smiling and smiles back at me. She seemed like she was completely interested into my story. I continue with the fight between me and Sasuke at the Valley of the End. I stop again. I really didn't like to think about that all that much. She puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Naruto," she says with a concerned tone. "You really don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable with it. I'll understand."

I couldn't argue with her this time, so I just stop. She wraps her arms around my waist and rests her head on my side. A few seconds later, I hear something weird. It sounded like someone was crying. I look around and find that the source of said crying was Kaede. Whoa! I was confused because it was a bit surprising to me that she would be crying on me, and I didn't think she would be the type to do that. But I eventually get past that and put an arm around her and try to comfort her. Before I could say anything, she decides to speak up.

She lets go of me and wipes her tears. "Naruto," she said, trying to regain her composure. "I can tell you've been through so much..." she trails off and looks up at me with the bluest eyes I've ever seen. "...and I don't..." she gets choked up, but manages to continue. "I don't want you to hurt anymore. I don't want you to have to deal with any burdens like that anymore. I-I-" she starts crying again. I didn't know exactly what to say to her, so I just try kissing her gently to calm her and comfort her. It worked the way I hoped it would.

"You don't have to cry over me," I tell her, when I finally think of something to say. "You don't have to worry about me, you know. I'll be alright. You're looking at the next Hokage, for God's sake."

"The next hokage?" she asked confusedly but with a warm smile. She laughs softly. "That's something." She laughs, but not in a mocking sort of way. "Well, then," she says in her normal voice. "I guess I shouldn't worry so much about the next hokage, now should I?" She smiles brightly and I return the gesture.

I put an arm around her. "Feel better now?" She nods. "Good." I smile again at her and she seemed to really warm up. She stops for a moment.

"What is it?" I ask her. She doesn't respond. Rather, she reaches up to me and kisses me. Moments later, her kisses get more passionate. She pulls me in closer and I wrap my arms around her waist. I unconsciously slip my tongue into her mouth and it moves around on its own. The more I explore [5], the more she seems to like it. I can hear her soft, muffled moans. I broke away and start kissing her neck. Her skin was so smooth. She seemed to like the attention. My hands start moving on their own and I start feeling around on her upper body under her shirt. She started moaning. I would have kept going if only we weren't interrupted by a visitor.

Damn Kakashi! It doesn't help that he brought Sai and Kiba with him.

**Author's Notes: Naughty, naughty Kakashi! But then again, Naruto isn't all that innocent himself. Teehee. Anyway, I'm sorry the slight Naruto-OOC, but I was trying to make a point and I was trying to bring someone's idea to life. (Again, you're welcome, Trey of the rebellion.) Oh yeah, I'm sorry to disappoint, but yeah, no lemon in this chapter. The next chapter or two for sure though. **

**Special Notes: Since I do plan on having a lemon in the next chapter or the one after, I might need a little help with that since it would have been my first, so anyone who is good with that sort of stuff, please help me!**

**The Numbers:**

**[1] Again, sorry for mean OOC-Naruto. I broke my heart to have him argue with Jiraiya like that. I'm sorry for that. **

**[2] Ok, I wouldn't know what jail is like for a woman since I never been. I think it would be that bad though...?**

**[3] Yes, people, Kaede does, in fact, have x-ray vision. I had to think of her in a superhero matter on that one.**

**[4] Yes, people, Kaede stays packing. She never goes out without her weapons.**

**[5] Sorry to rhyme on that one.**

**Til next time...adios!**


	9. One Hell of a Day!

**Author's Note: I don't have much to say right now. Um...yeah. I'm sorry that the updating hasn't been as frequent as it once was, but I can honestly say it's not my fault. I mean...it's only first quarter and school's **_**already**_** kickin' my ass! So that's one thing. **

**Warnings: Finally, the part you've probably been waiting for...the first lemon! Also, excessive use of the word 'like.' (Sorry I might dumb you guys down by the end of the chapter.)**

**Special Notes: Ok, like I said in the warnings, this chapter will have the first lemon. Not only is it the first lemon of the story, but it's first lemon I ever wrote, so I apologize in advance if it sucks. Sorry! On with the story anyways...**

_**Chapter 8 - One Hell of a Day!**_

**(Naruto's POV)**

We all stood there motionless; Kiba has his jaw to floor, both Kaede and I are completely red, Kakashi looking as surprised as he possibly could and Sai just standing there being Sai [1]. Hastily, Kaede pushes me off of her and slumps to the floor. We just stayed in an awkward blanket of tension until I try to break it.

"Uh...uh...th-thi-thi-this i-isn't what it l-l-looks like..."I stammered.

"LIKE HELL IT DOESN'T!" Kiba objected. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, NARUTO?"

Kakashi-sensei interjected. "Calm down, Kiba." He then turned his attention back to me. "But seriously, is it even worth asking what you're doing?"

"..." I really couldn't think of anything to say.

"Um...well...I think it's time for me to hit the dusty old trail [2]," Kaede said, finally getting up and stretching. She tried to swiftly make her way to the door, but Kakashi stopped her.

"You're not going anywhere," he told her in a half-amused, half-serious tone.

"Damn," she muffled. She walked up to me. "Be ready," she told me, speaking softly enough to where only I could hear her. "Your torment is about to start."

'Great,' was all I thought.

"So..." Sai said. "Just what were you doing, Naruto?"

Before I said anything, Kaede interjected. "

"Um, I'm sorry if this a little rude, but who are you two?" she asked pointing to Kiba and Sai. I still don't get why she asks if she can read minds.

"Why does that matter?" Kiba asked.

"Just 'cause."

"...anyway," Kakashi rang back. "It's better to just let it go. I don't think your faces can get any more red than what they are now."

I could tell that both Kaede and I were thinking the same thing, 'Thank God!'

"But...erm..." Kaede started, trying to quickly change the subject. "Uh...anyways, I guess I should get going now." Her face was still glowing red.

"Uh huh," Kiba said. "Whatever."

She quickly made her way out. It couldn't help but think she was kinda cute when she was embarrased like that.

"So, Naruto," Sai started. I didn't want to let him finish his thought.

"Don't start, Sai!" I told him firmly.

"What? I wasn't going to-"

"**Don't start!"**

"I just have one question then, since you won't let me say much."

"What?"

"Does she know about how small your penis is?"

"**DAMN YOU SAI!**" I run up to him and punch him in the face. "**YOU BASTARD!**"

"Naruto, calm down," I hear Kakashi-sensei call. I get one more hit in before I do as I'm told.

"Prick," I mutter, referring to Sai. I calm down, then decide to ask, "What are you guys doing here anyway? And just to let you know, it wouldn't hurt to knock."

They ignore my comment. Kakashi decides to answer my question, though. "We were here to check up on you, but I can tell that there's not much to worry about, seeing how you were-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" I yell at him.

"Ok, ok, but I guess I can leave you alone, for now."

"What? Wait a minute-"

"Let it go, Kiba!"

He grabs Kiba by his shirt collar and dragged him out, Sai following. I sigh in relief. I'm just happy that I didn't have actually answer their questions. It was _way_ too embarrassing too. But then, I had to think about what I was doing with Kaede. I couldn't believe what I let myself get carried away the way I did. But at the same time, I couldn't help it. I had to admit, she was...well..._sexy. _And it's hard to stay still when a cute girl is crying in front of you. I waste about fifteen minutes thinking about me and a certain curly-haired girl. Before I notice it, said girl was trotting back towards my door.

"Psst..." she said, looking all around the room before actually coming in. "Are they still here?"

I give her an 'are-you-some-kinda-basket-case' type of look, but answer her question none-the-less. "No, Kaede, they left."

"Good," she says, slowly creeping her way back in and closing and locking the door behind her. I had to admit, she had her weird moments.

"Sorry, Naruto," she started off. "I guess I've been making a mess when I've been around you, huh?"

I say nothing. I didn't really know how to answer.

"Well, anyway," she said again. "I'm sorry. But there's something I did want to ask."

"What is it?" I ask her.

"What did those guys want?"

"Nothing really."

"Hm. They must have some kind of perverted radar and decided to come see what was going on." She chuckles. I laugh with her, mostly because that reminded of Kakashi-sensei. "So, Naruto, are you doing anything later on?"

"Uh...no," I tell her. "Why?"

"I know it's a bit of a shot in the dark, but do you want to..." she trailed off. She looked down and started scratching her hair, obviously thinking of the right words to say. "Do you want to, you know, like hang out, or like something like that?"

She was obviously nervous. And apparently, she says 'like' a lot when she's nervous. She really can be weird. But at least she's funny when she's like that.

"Naruto," she said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Could you like, answer my question?" Her hands were resting on her outer thighs and were shaking rapidly.

"Hmm? Oh uh..." I got lost in my side track thoughts that I forgot to think about her question. I thought about it, something that didn't take long at all. "Sure," I tell her.

She smiles warmly smiles at me. "Okay, then. I'll come back later then." She walks toward the door and opens it. "I'll see you later," her smile gets slightly bigger. "Bye Naruto." She waves and leaves. I was about to get in the shower before something just hit me. Are we going a date later?

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~later that night~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

It was around 7:00 in the evening and I was _exhausted._ I had so many errands and favors to do, not to mention that I got plenty of distractions in between. I go to my room and lay on the bed for at least five minutes before I hear someone knock on the door. Damn, why can't people let me relax for a few?

I open the door lazily when I glance up at Kaede, who was now giving me a confused/concerned look.

"Naruto, are you okay?" She asked me, her voice matching her expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"You look like you're half dead."

"No, I'm fine."

"Well, are you okay to go out tonight or do you need to stay home?"

"Go out? What are you talking about?"

Her facial expression changed. She was clearly annoyed. "So...you did forget that we were supposed to hang out tonight?"

I totally did. I got caught up in all this other stuff going on that that totally flew from my mind.

"I guess I can't blame you, though, you do seem like you worked a lot today."

It's good that she understood that much. That was a relief.

"How about this, though? How about I just stay here and take care of you for a little while, then I'll let you rest, huh?"

I nod. That didn't sound too bad.

"Okay, then. Just sit down and relax and let me take care of you." I sit down in one of the kitchen chairs. She walks behind me. She starts massaging my shoulders.

"What're you-" I try to ask before she cut me off.

"Just relax, okay?"

I was too tired to argue. "Fine."

She kept my massaging my shoulders. I don't know how many times she's done that before, but she was damn good at it! Her massages were AWESOME! We stayed in a comfortable silence while I was thoroughly enjoying her massage.

"Hey, Naruto," she said, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"Do you need anything else-water or something?"

"Nope, I'm good. Just keep doing what you're doing."

She laughs softly. "Okay."

She keeps massaging until she tells me she needed to stop for a little bit. I just sit there, beyond relaxed. She sits down next to me.

"Feeling any better?" she asks.

"I feel awesome! Where'd you learn to give massages like that?"

"I don't know. I guess it's just something I'm good at."

"Yeah, you are. I haven't felt this good in a long time!"

She giggles at my enthusiasm. "I'm glad it was that good for you. Do you want me to do anything else for you?"

I try to see how far I could go. "Can you give me a back massage?" I asked that in a semi-innocent tone.

She saw through it. "Fine," she replied with a somewhat reluctant tone. "But you do know you have to take your shirt off for that, right?"

"What? What do you mean? Is that your way of-"

She cuts me off. "Relax. What I mean by that is that if it's going to work the way you want it to, you have to take your shirt off. Shirts get in the way."

The way she said it made it hard to believe her, but I take my shirt off anyway. She freezes. I can tell she was checking me out, not that I blame her [3].

"Yo, Kaede," I call, trying to snap her out of her thoughts. "You could stop checking me out now."

"HEY, HEY, HEY! Don't say things like that!"

"Am I wrong?"

Her blush proves otherwise. "Whatever!" She huffs and turns away. "Look, do you want your massage or not?"

"Fine, I'll leave you alone now."

"Good." She looks at me with complete impatience.

"Well..." she said.

"What?"

"Lay down."  
"On the floor?"

"Anywhere else you want me to give you a massage?"

I didn't think about that for some reason.

She sighs, knowing that I didn't. "Don't take this the wrong way, but how about we go to your room?"

"**WHAT?**"

"Like I said, don't take it the wrong way. I was thinking that if you want me to massage your back, it would probably be more comfortable if you lay down on something more comfortable, like your bed."

"Oh," was all I say. I guess that made sense. But it still seemed like she was up to something.

"Naruto, trust me, I'm not up to anything. What you think I'll do to you will not happen, okay?"

I think about it. I didn't have to put much thought it to it after I feel my back tensing up. "Fine."

We go back to my room and I lay down on my stomach on my bed. She sits on top of me and starts massaging me right away. It felt even better than before! Her hands felt so good! I even start groaning in pleasure, just a little bit, of course.

"Um..I think I should I like stop now," she said, blatantly nervous. I guess I should have tried to keep quiet. Damn!

She gets off of me slowly. "Like, do you need, like anything else?"

I know she's nervous, but her excessive use of the word 'like' was really annoying after a while! I try to get over it. I start mocking her tone. "Uh...I don't like, need anything, like else," I say with a evil smirk and a sarcastic tone.

She playfully pushes me. "Shut up, prick!"

"Nice to know you're not nervous anymore."

"Whatever!" She rolls her eyes. "But seriously, do you need anything else?"

"Nope, I'm fine."

"Okay." She just stands there, probably thinking of something else to say. "So, um...since you seem to be okay, I guess I should get going..." she trails off.

"Why? You just got here!"

"Yeah, I know, but I got a lot to do, and I did say I wanted you to get your rest, you know?"

"You don't have to worry about me, I feel awesome!"

"..."

"Kaede?"

"...okay, I guess I can stay for a little while longer."

I start smiling at her. I go sit down on my bed. She comes sits on the floor next to me.

She starts looking aruond the room. "You know what's funny?" she asks.

"What?"

"Your room isn't as dirty as I imagined it would be," she says with a giggle and warm smile.

I glare at her, causing her to laugh harder. "Calm down, I wasn't even serious. But you do have a nice place, despite the fact that it smells like feet and ramen."

"HEY, IT DOES NOT SMELL LIKE THAT!"

"I didn't think you would think so."

"What's that supposed to-"

"Never mind."

We shift in to a somewhat awkward silence. She starts twisting her thumbs around and sighs every now and again. I just watch and sometimes look out the window. She breaks the silence and looks up at me.

"So Naruto," she starts. "I'm just curious."

"About what?"

"Have you ever-"

"Ever what?"

"Have you ever had a-"

Oh God! I really hope she isn't talking about a blowjob.

"**NO YOU NASTY PERVERT! WHAT THE HELL WOULD MAKE YOU THINK THAT?**"

Oh yeah, I forgot she reads minds.

She turns away from me while trying to hide her blush. "Anyway, all I wanted to ask you is if you had a girlfriend before? Geez...!"

"Oh, that...uh" I stop. I didn't really want to answer that one...

She looks back at me. "Complicated, huh?"

I'm so happy she found the right word for it. "Exactly!" [4]

"That's fine. I've kinda been there before, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I haven't always been the luckiest person when it comes to dating. For one thing, I've always been so shy around guys. I'd always make myself look so awkward. It didn't help that I'd always twitch when I'd talk to a guy, too. But the worst of it all was that whenever I'd try to talk to a guy, I'd say 'like' so many times. It was so irritating."

Strange. She didn't look awkward and she didn't twitch, but she does say like _way_ too many times for anybody's own good. I guess some things don't change.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm still working on the 'like' thing, so you don't have to mock me for it!"

"Oh, I'm like, sorry, and like stuff, like," I say, mocking her anyways.

"You prick!" She then gets up and starts to tackle me. She pulls me down on the floor and tries to put me in some kind of weird chokehold. I break free of her grip and try to pin her to the side of the bed. She slips away and gets behind me. She pulls my arms around my back and pushes me against the bed with her foot. I break my arms free of her grip. She slides her foot back. I then turn around and grip her shoulders. I start to lose balance and wind up pushing her down to the floor and pinning her down. We both chuckle a little bit before we realize the positions we were in.

"Like...um..." Kaede said, before her face turned red. "This is a bit awkward."

I ignore her. Instead of responding to her, I just gently press my lips to hers. For only a moment, I just give her soft pecks. I lift up from her, far enough for me to look into her eyes, which were now a shiny shade of silver [5]. She looks so lost and like she had a lot to say.

"Um...what was that, like, for?"

"It was something I've wanted to do for a while now."

"...o-k-k-ay."

I smirk to myself. She's so cute when she gets like that. I go back and start to kiss her even more. Slowly, she starts to actually kiss me back. Not long after, I slip my tongue out and press it against her lips, asking for entrance, which she gave. I explore her wet and hot cavern and I could tell she was really enjoying it. I start to hear her muffled moans as I keep exploring. I move my hand under her shirt and start roaming around. She starts laughing and moaning at the same time. She breaks the kiss, panting and laughing at the same time.

"Stop tickling me!"

Oh yeah, I forgot she's ticklish. She moves my hands and sits up. She stands up, pulling me up with her.

"What are you-" I tried asking before she cuts me off by putting a finger over my mouth.

"Just watch," was all she said as she took off her shirt. She moves and goes to lay down on the bed. She used her finger to call me over there. I walk over there slowly. She puts her hand over her mouth and starts giggling behind it.

"What?"

"Close your mouth before any flies fly in there."

I wasn't even paying attention to that, nor did I even care. I just go over to the bed and hover over her. She puts her arms around my neck and pulls me closer to her and starts kissing me. I break away and I start kissing her neck. I leave a little trail down her neck and I slowly slip into ecstasy when I hear her moan slightly louder than before. Between moans she says, "Bite my neck." I was confused at first, but I did as I was told, causing her to moan even louder. Then, I lift her up a bit and take her bra off. I lay her back down and start playing around with her nipples. I start to twisting, licking and sucking on them.

"Ahh-N-Naru-" she moans. I start to notice that I had a little 'tent' in my pants. "Take 'em off," she told me, panting. I move away from her slightly and remove my trouser and boxers while she removes her pants. I'd ask her later why she doesn't wear any panties, but right now, I thought it was so friggin' hot!

"Come on, Naruto," she said, still panting. "I need you so bad right now." That comment drove me wild and I try to attack her. Instead, she grabs me by the shoulders and spins me around until she on top of me. She gives me soft pecks all over my face, neck and abs. She stops and plays around with my cock before she starts licking and sucking on it.

"Ah, K-k-" I couldn't even finish that thought. Her mouth felt so...I couldn't even think to describe it. My mind was swimming and I felt like was going to go off the edge.

"K-K-Kaed-e, I'm g-gonna-" I try to tell her.

"Don't! Not yet!"

I try to hold out for a little longer. She kept rocking her head to her own rhythm while letting her tongue explore all over my cock. I couldn't hold out any longer and I just came in her mouth. She sits up and starts licking my cum off her lips and swallows. She leans in closer to me and starts kissing me. She pokes her tongue out and starts exploring in my mouth. She pulls away and sarcastically asks with a smirk, "Like the way you taste?" I was too horny and exhausted to respond or even glare at her. Instead, I grab her by the waist and spin her around until I'm on top of her. Then, I slowly push my cock into her entrance.

"Oh-" she gasped. I slowly and rhythmically thrust inside her, causing her moans to get even louder than before. Damn, she was so tight!

"Uh-Kaede-you're so-UGH!"

Not long after, I feel myself hit her 'spot.' I keep up the pace I had until she screamed, "FASTER, NARUTO, HARDER!"

I do as I'm told and pick up the pace. Her moans get louder with each thrust. She was driving me insane and I hit her spot even harder than before.

"OH NARUTO! AHH-THAT'S-THAT FEELS-AHH!"

With one more good thrust, she screams and she cums all over me. Not long after, I came inside her. I wait a few seconds to pull out and lay down next to her. We lay there, sweating and panting, looking deep into each other's eyes. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her closer to me. She rests her head on my chest and falls asleep soon after. I start playing with her hair and start thinking. 'Damn, that's one hell of a first date.' I chuckle to myself and slowly start to fall asleep with a warm smile on my face.

**Author's Notes: Alright! That wraps up chapter 8! Again, I'm sorry if the lemon sucked, but like I said before, it's my first lemon so just bare with me please! Anyways, I hoped you guys liked it! I'm sorry it took forever to get up here, but I was struggling with the lemon and I didn't have as much time to write it as I'd hoped, so sorry about that. As always, please review and NO FLAMING! **

**The Numbers:**

**[1] "Sai just standing there, being Sai." What more can I say? He's not the most 'reactive' person in the world, though I still love him!**

**[2] I got that quote from 'Family Guy', the episode where Peter found out he was black. I love that episode!**

**[3] Sorry, that was a douchebag-Naruto moment. I apologize if some people didn't find that funny.**

**[4] If you see 'It's complicated' under someone's Facebook relationship status, that's probably one of the reasons why.**

**[5] 'shiny shade of silver,' try saying that 5 times fast.**

**Until next time...deuces!**


	10. Jealousy is Never Cute

**Author's Notes: I'm on a streak now! I actually know where I want to go with this chapter from the jump. Good for me!**

**Warnings: Girl Fight! (don't the sound of that, sorry, not my problem!) Also, EXTREME Sakura bashing! (again, don't like that, sorry, not my problem.) Lastly, a little bit of POV switching.**

**On with the story...**

_**Chapter 9 - Jealousy is Never Cute**_

I woke up around 7 this morning to find my bed empty. "What the-?" I ask out loud. Where did Kaede go? I jump out of bed to look for and I hear the shower. 'Oh, she must be in there.'

I relax and go back to bed. Shortly, I hear the shower stop and hear Kaede coming out of the bathroom. She walks into my room and smiles brightly at me.

"Good morning, Naruto," she said happily. "Did you sleep well?"

"Uh yeah I did. Did you?"

"Mm-hmm!"

I smile at her and she smiles back. We then shift into a comfortable silence. She starts fiddling her thumbs around and sighs heavily.

"Naruto, I wanted to ask you something."

Deja vu starts to kick in. "Hmm?"

"I just wanted to ask you, and hopefully you know, but with everything that happened last night, what does that make us?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I mean, we already know a lot about each other, we've spent some time alone together, and we even slept with each other, but we've never really been on a date. So I just wanted to know what would that make us?"

Damn, that's a hard question. Since she put it that way, it makes us sound like sex buddies, but I don't think either one of us would like to be called that.

"I really don't know. I guess it sounds like friends-with-benefits to me." And those were some _DAMN GOOD_ benefits, too [1]!

"Okay," she said. "Just wanted to know."

Our once comfortable silence turned into an extremely intense and awkward silence. She started playing with her thumbs again and I scanned the room for no particular reason.

Kaede broke the silence. "So...since things happened differently than I expected yesterday, how about we actually go out later on today, that is if you're not busy later on."

I keep myself from blushing. "Uh, I guess that's cool." I just hope I'm not busy like I was yesterday.

"Okay," she said. "I'll come back later on today."

"Okay."

She grabs her clothes and starts to dress. Since I was 'unintentionally' watching her dress, I was reminded of a question that I had last night.

"Kaede..." I call.

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"I might be a little out-of-place for asking this, but why don't you wear panties?"

She looks at me with a creeped-out and confused look. Then her expression softens and she starts laughing.

"What's funny?"

"Your question. That's a strange question to ask someone out-of-the-blue."

"Yeah, but I just noticed it last night, so I just wanted to know."

She laughs more. "Well, I guess it's 'cause they stopped being comfortable for me. That's pretty much it. There's not much to it, really."

I raise my eyebrows. That is pretty hot!

When she's finally dressed, she lays back on the bed.

Another question popped into my head. "Kaede, what did you mean when you said you had a lot to do last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, just before we-well, you know, you said that you had a lot to do. What were talking about?"

"Oh that! Oh, I just had to get some stuff for my new apartment."

"Apartment?"

"Well, yeah, I'm getting a new pad. Sweet, huh? But it wasn't that easy. Godaime-sama said she'd give me a place to stay if I answered a few questions for her, swear loyalty to Konoha, promise I would be her personal 'errand girl' or whatever [2] and agree to 24/7 surveillance starting from the minute I got settled. At first I thought it was a lot, but then, it's still better than what I had a few months ago."

I'm starting to think Baa-chan didn't like Kaede all that much. I decided not to worry about it. "So, is it far from here or what?"

"It's not far at all. Just a couple buildings down is all."

"Hm. That's good."

"Yeah, it is. Well, I guess I sh-" she stopped when there was a knock on the door. I put some pants and get up to go get it.

"Hey, Naruto," Sakura-chan said, walking in with Sai. Uh-oh!

"Uh, hey Sakura-chan, what's up?"

"Naruto, is everything okay? You're acting weird."

"Um..no I'm not!"

She glares at me. "What's going on?"

"Uh, nothing. I..uh...I gotta go to the bathroom for a few minutes."

I rush back to my bedroom and see Kaede still laying on my bed.

"Kaede!" I try to whisper/yell at her.

"What is it?" Thankfully, her voice was low.

"You have to get out of here. Now!"

"Why? What hap-Haruno's here, isn't she?"

"...Yeah."

"I figured. Alright, but you owe me for this!"

"Fine, whatever, jus-"

"Naruto!"

Damn, from the sound of it, Sakura sounded like she was closer to my room than I thought.

"Naruto!"

Damn, she was definitely behind me!

I turn to face her and Sai. She glares at me.

"Naruto, what the hell is going on in here?"

"Uh...I-I-I...uh..."

Kaede interrupts. "I was just leaving."

"Why the hell are you here in the first place?"

"Well, I don't think that's any of your business."

"**WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN IT'S NONE OF MY BUSINESS?**"

"Well, despite how close you two are, it's still rude to walk into people's houses and ask about why someone else is there."

"**Damn you! I oughta-**"

"Look, if it makes you happy and shuts you up faster, I'll just leave and no one has to do any ass-kicking like you plan."

Kaede makes her way out. Soon after, I hear the front door close/slam. Sakura turns her attention back to me.

"Why the hell was she in here?"

"She came over last night."

"She what?"

"She came over and took care of me a little bit since I was out of it."

"Then why the hell was she still here just now?"

It may sound strange to say this, but her screaming was starting to give me a headache.

"It's nothing of concern, Sakura-chan. Just let it go, okay?"

"Like hell I'm going to let it go! Naruto, stay aware from her!"

"WHAT? WHY?"

"Because, stupid, you don't know her, she's dangerous and she was an assasin, not to mention that she just got of jail a few days ago."

Sai finally speaks up. "Wow, you're really one to talk, Sakura."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Well, you called her dangerous and yet you're the one with the bad temper. You're also the one who is constantly screaming at people and beating them up, Naruto especially. You told Naruto that he doesn't know her and yet he seems to know her a lot more than you do, which shows you really shouldn't talk about her. And on top of all that, you brought up the fact that she was an assasin and yet your 'precious Sasuke-kun' isn't far from that. So all-in-all, you really have no right saying all of that [3]."

"**DAMN YOU SAI!**" She starts beating him up, which in all honesty, proves his point. For once, I'm actually Sai said something.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile, with Kaede~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**(Kaede's P.O.V)**

After I left Naruto's place, I start walking toward my new apartment. I couldn't help but be a little flustered by what happened back there, though. Damn that Sakura! She was such a RAGING BITCH! I sigh and try to calm down. I get so wrapped up in my thoughts that it takes me a while to realize that I ran into someone.

"HEY, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" That stranger yelled at me.

'Great,' I thought. 'More yelling.'

I turn to face that person and am stunned to see that it was one of those guys that was with Kakashi-san yesterday. It just had to be the brunette with a crappy attitude that likes to yell. And I just had to run into him. Shows how lucky I am. I try apologizing.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say, bowing and pretending as if I didn't recognize him. I look back up at him to see if he was buying it. He wasn't, not one bit! Shit, I'm screwed.

"You're that girl that was with Naruto yesterday, right?" he asked.

"Yes," I say back. "Why does it matter?"

"I wanted to ask you about that."

"Shouldn't you ask Naruto since you know him better than me? And don't you find it rude to ask about their business when you don't even know them?"

"Maybe."

"..." I sighed. He apparently wasn't going to let me leave so easily.

"Could I at least get your name first before I tell you anything?" I ask him, with an exhausted and slightly irritated tone.

"What's yours?"

He was acting like a straight-up douche on purpose, obviously.

"Ichiru Kaede, can you tell me yours now, please?"

"Inuzuka Kiba."

"Thank you. Now what do you want to know?"

"Only one thing."

"What?"

"What the hell do you see in Naruto?"

I felt like my whole face just dropped. Is that all he wanted?

"Are you freakin' kidding me?"

"No, why?"

I sighed. "Never mind. And to answer your question, it's complicated. [4]"

"What's so complicated about it?"

"Why do you want to know so badly anyway?"

"Because it's just so hard to believe."

"What is?"

"How anyone could ever, you know, with Naruto of all people?"

"Not to be rude, but has anyone ever, you know, with you yet?"

"THE HELL? WHY ARE YOU ASKING ABOUT THAT?"

"The same reason you're asking me about that."

He quickly stopped talking.

"I'll take that last comment and your silence as a no. Can I go now? I have a lot to do now."

He still didn't say anything. I just decided to walk away. I didn't get very far before I feel someone pull me back. It didn't shock me to see that Kiba was the one doing that.

"What is it now?" I ask, completely irritated.

"What do you have to do?"

From what he was thinking, that question was obviously the best he could come up with. "Why?"

" 'Cause I might want to help you out."

"If 'might wanting' to help me is the best you can do, then you just save that."

"Look, I'm sorry, just let me help you out a little."

I think about it. There's a lot that goes into moving in anywhere, I guess I could use all the help I could get.

"Fine," I tell him. "But just don't get in the way or irritate me."

"Okay, you got it."

I didn't know why, but I had a somewhat bad feeling about that.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back with Naruto~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**(Back to Naruto's POV)**

I get dressed after taking a long, long shower. I could tell today was going to be a long one. Not only did Kaede practically storm out, but so did Sakura, after she finished kicking both mine and Sai's asses. But I just couldn't help but think about what Sai said to her though. I don't know why it took so long, but I was starting to see that everything he said about her was true, though I'd never admit it.

I finally leave my apartment and start walking around. I'd been so worried about what was going on in the last 24 hours that I hadn't realized how hungry I was. I decide to go down to Ichiraku's.

When I get there, I sit down and order my favorite. I relax a bit until I hear someone screaming for me.

"Naruto, NARUTO!" Sakura was screaming for me, this time not angrily, but urgently.

"What is it?" I ask her, eating when I got my food.

"It's Kaede."

My eyes widen. "What? What happened to her?"

"I was walking for few minutes, looking for you actually, and I saw her..." she trailed off.

"Saw her what?" She nearly had me scared shitless.

"...With Kiba..."

"And?"

"...well, they were getting close and they even..."

"What?"

"They went into some apartment together."

What? I was immediately angry then I thought about it. Going by what happened just a few hours ago, I was wondering if I should even believe her. She does seem like she can be jealous of her.

"Sakura-chan, are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'll show you if you don't believe me."

"...okay, I'll come with you if you really want to show me." That, quite frankly, was the only way I'd believe right now.

"Well then, hurry up so we can go!"

I finished up my meal and was upset that I only got one bowl. I paid and Sakura dragged me along with her. I could tell that I wasn't going to like where this was going to go.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In Kaede's apartment~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**(back to Kaede's POV)**

I finally get some furniture in the apartment and decide to take a break. Even though he had made me mad earlier, I had to admit that Kiba-kun was a lot of help.

"Kiba-kun, you can take a break now," I call out to him.

I decide to go back to my new bedroom and lay down on my new bed. I loved having new things! It was the best feeling in the world! Soon after I lie down, Kiba comes in my room. I look up at him.

"Hey Kiba-kun, thanks a lot for your help. It would have taken forever to get all this stuff in."

"Uh..no problem."

"Can I ask you a question, Kiba-kun?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Why did you want to help me all of a sudden?"

"I don't know. Is it so terrible to help someone?"

"No, it is if they treat you so rudely and bombard you with questions the way you did."

"Whatever. Do you need anything else?"

"Nope. You can go now."

"And I'm the rude one, according to you."

"Yep, you are, but I guess it's not your fault. Most doggies are, so you're not alone."

"HEY SHUT UP!" Him growling and yelling at me like that made me laugh hysterically.

"I'm just joking," I manage to say between laughs. I calm down and was about to say something until I hear a knock on the door.

"That's weird, I wasn't expecting anybody to come over." I still go and get the door. I was happy to see Naruto there, even I'm surprised how he found out where I lived so fast, but was also mad to see Haruno with him. That was really too good to be true.

**(back to Naruto's POV)**

"Um...hey you two, what are you-" Kaede tried to say before Sakura burst through her door and screamed at her.

"Ok, Kaede, where is he?"

"Who?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Kaede, I know he's in here somewhere! Where is he?"

"Well, you're obviously not talking about Naruto, so could you at least tell me who you're referring to?"

"Kiba, dumbass!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, no need for name calling and profanity. That's really rude of you." Wow, that really was kinda rude.

"Who cares about all that? Where the hell is he?"

"In the back. What's it matter to you?"

"See, Naruto, I told you she was with him."

"Wow, Haruno, you really do have problems. Do you have anger management problems or something?"

"**What the hell did you just say?**"

"Look, I'm not in a mood to fight with you. Is that all you wanted?"

I interject. "Sakura-chan, just calm down. It's probably not what you thought it was, so just relax."

Kiba walks into the foyer. "What's with all the yelling?"

Sakura starts up again. "Kiba, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Why do you care?"

"Answer the damn question!"

Kaede decides to chime back in. "Whoa, whoa, just relax for two seconds. He's only here to help me get some stuff into my apartment and will leave once everything's done for the day, okay? Nothing more, nothing less, alright? So just calm down! Your yelling is really annoying to hear after a while."

Thankfully, Kiba started pushing her out the door while leaving. He waved us off. We wave back. She closes the door, only leaving the two of us in the foyer. She goes over to the couch and lies down. She sighs and tries to relax.

"Naruto, can you come over here please?"

I creep over towards, unsure of what to expect.

"Can you explain to me what happened just now?"

I sigh then explain to her how Sakura apparently 'saw' Kiba and Kaede together and came rushing over to me and came over here. I start scratching the back of my head, waiting for her response. I hope she would be the one not to yell. I couldn't take anymore today.

"O-kay," was her response to my story. She gives me a serious yet softer look and say, "Look, Naruto, I have a really good feeling that this isn't going to be the last time she does that, so I just want to let you know this. I promise, wholeheartedly swear that I'll never in a million years do anything like what she was trying to imply. I care about you, Naruto. I can promise you now that I'll never hurt you in any kind of way. Okay?"

"Yeah," I said. With that, she gets off the couch and walks around so she could hug me. She gently kisses me on the cheek.

"Okay, I gotta finish up in here, so I'll see you later, okay?"

"You don't need any help?"

"Not any right now. I was going to do everything else tomorrow."

"Oh, okay. Well, I guess I should be going now." I give her a sweet peck on the lips, causing her to blush. I smirk at her and laugh. She was way too adorable when she did that. "I'll see you later."

She walks me to the door. "See you later."

I walk out and hear her close the door behind me.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A few hours later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

I was on my back to my apartment when I was stopped by Lee.

"Naruto-kun, come quickly."

"Bushy-Brow, what is it?"

"You need to see this. It is Sakura-san."

Oh God! What did she do now?

"What's going on? What happened to her?"

"She is in a fight."

Just what I thought would happen.

"Where is she, Bushy Brow?"

"Come with me."

We rush over to where Sakura was. Damn, she really was in a fight. But it's a shame that she was losing, pretty badly, too. She had lots of bruises, a black eye and a swollen cheek. I started wondering who she fighting.

"GET UP, BITCH!" I heard that scream from my right. I look over and see Kaede as furious as ever. Oh shit! She was really scary when she was pissed!

"I'M NOT THROUGH WITH YOU YET!"

She picks Sakura off the ground and punches her square in the face, causing her to fly back. After a few moments, Sakura comes charging at her and swings at her, but misses. She then grabs hold of her shirt collar and punches her in the face. Kaede pushes Sakura off of her. She then throws Sakura on the ground and punches her repetitively in the face.

Whoa! This was getting really insane. I didn't know if I should stay out of it or try to break it up. And for some reason I couldn't understand, I started thinking that seeing the two of them fight was kinda hot. But I try to ignore my dirty side-comments. Not very long after, Kiba, Hinata and Shikamaru come.

"What's going on?" Hinata asked.

"Oh shit! Girl fight! Sweet!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Girl fight, huh? How troublesome," Shikamaru said.

Sakura and Kaede were still fighting. They looked as if death would be the only thing that would stop them. Now, they were on the ground, punching and pushing each other around.

"**YOU BITCH! GET OFF ME, YOU STUPID WHORE!**" Sakura screamed at Kaede.

"**YOU'RE THE BITCH, YOU UGLY BAKA!**" Kaede screamed back. Kaede pulled Sakura's hair and punched hard in the face, giving her a nosebleed.

They continued to keep hitting and screaming at each other for a few minutes.

"Isn't anyone going to stop them?" Hinata asked, concerned.

"Why should they? This is HOT!" Kiba exclaimed again. We all glare at him. "What? It's true!"

We ignore him and I was about to stop them but was stopped when I see Kakashi-sensei appear and break them up. He grabs them up by their shirts and holds them up in the air.

"Just what the hell are you two doing?"

**Author's Notes: Chapter 9 is finished! Yay! For anyone who wanted some action, I hope you're happy, at least for now. I can promise you there will be more action later on in the story, I'm not sure when though. Just letting you know that. I hope you all enjoyed. (Review! Review! Review!)**

**The Numbers:**

**[1] I guess you could say that, Naruto! (hehe)**

**[2] Okay, for some people who think that Shizune is already technically Tsunade's errand girl, just bare with me. It won't be even close to the same.**

**[3] That whole paragraph has got to be my favorite paragraph that I've ever written in life! (teehee) It's sad, but hilariously true!**

**[4] The second reason why you'll see "It's complicated" under people's Facebook relationship statuses.**

**Adios friends!**


	11. Author's NoteAuthor's Apology

Special Author's Note

Ok, loyal readers, I know it's been forever since I've updated. And I know I probably disappointed some of you with the first update since like October to be just an author's note. But I did this for two reasons.

1. I wanted to apologize for the lack of updates. I have three reasons for that:

1. School: It really gets in the way and this was my most stressful year yet, so ...

2. Lack of Will: I've been so stressed that I really didn't want to do anything.

3. Lack of Knowing Where to Go: I didn't know how to follow up with the last chapter so I didn't write anything for the longest.

2. I wanted to tell that Chapter 10 is in the making. But no spoilers!

I really hope you guys will forgive me for the lack of updates, but I'll try as best as I can not to do it again.


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